Unfolding Time
by Zylith.Luxanna
Summary: Since becoming third years at U.A. things have quieted down. That is until a strange child appears on campus and Ochaco and Katsuki find themselves caught in a time Quirk that sends them to the past and future. The two learn more about one another than they ever anticipated as they try to find their way back home to each other. Sequel to Spark
1. Chapter 1 - Strange Occurrences

**Unfolding Time  
**_Chapter One – Strange Occurrences _

**Summary** – Since becoming third years at U.A. things have quieted down. That is until a strange child appears on campus and Ochaco and Katsuki find themselves caught in a time Quirk that sends them to the past and future. The two learn more about one another than they ever anticipated as they try to find their way back home to each other.

* * *

"We're gonna be late," Ochaco murmured, her lips parting from Katsuki's as she shifted uncomfortably within the small closet. Her back was pressed against the door, her left leg hiked up around the explosive blonde's waist as an anchor. "Why couldn't we have done this back at the dorms?"

Katsuki dipped his head down, caressing the nape of her neck with his tongue, gaining him a pleasurable moan from her that he loved so much. "We still have five minutes," he stated, breathing in her scent. "And if we messed around in the dorms, we would have been late. More so."

Ochaco grabbed his face between her hands suddenly and forced him to look at her, her eyebrows sewn together in annoyance. "Katsuki, you said we have five minutes _five minutes ago_."

"Hah? No I fucking didn't."

"Unbelievable." She snaked her hand around his waist, letting her fingertips trace over the bulk of his muscle as she moved lower until she felt the familiar outline of his cellphone. Her lips creased into a playful smirk, watching as he relished in her touch…right up until she grabbed his phone and pulled away from him, leaving him yearning.

"Oi, that's playing fucking dirty," he hissed.

Ochaco stuck her tongue out at him and lit up the screen, her face suddenly blanching. "_Crap_!"

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, panic rising in his voice. He snatched the phone as she worked to untangle herself from him and when he saw the time being eight twenty, he began moving as quickly as she was to get out of the closet. "Fuck! How the hell are we twenty fucking minutes late?"

"Oh, I don't, maybe because you kept saying we had five minutes!" she snapped, glaring at him. She cracked the door open and peeked out, making sure the coast was clear before moving out into the hallway.

Katsuki came out beside her and pinched her cheeks, returning her glare. "Don't pin it all on me. You didn't exactly complain or have a sense of fucking urgency either."

He had her on that. She had been too caught up by his wandering hands to take notice of the time. "Next time I'm keeping track of time."

"Fine, whatever. Just fucking run, Aizawa is going to have our damn heads for this," he hissed, yet despite their dilemma, his lips curled into an amused smirked, catching the gravity hero off guard.

She glanced at him from the side, her eyes narrowing into another glare. "What's so funny?"

"You're adorable when you get flustered," he admitted, and sped up to pass her.

"Katsuki! Don't just say things like that when we're about to go to class!" she cried, her face flushing as bright as a Christmas tree. They had made their way from the small closet near the front of the school and down the main hallway toward their homeroom class. As they entered, all eyes turned to them and a slew of whispers erupted, causing Ochaco's face to deepen in color.

Aizawa cleared his throat uncomfortably and crossed his arms, his face contorted with disapproval. "Nice of you two to join us," he said flatly. "I hope the need to be in class didn't disrupt anything."

Ochaco shook her head quickly and kept her gaze to the floor as she shuffled toward her seat. "Sorry, sir." Katsuki on the other hand said nothing but had the cockiest look on his face, completely unfazed by the looks his classmates shot their way.

Once seated, the gravity hero exhaled her pent breath, though she still couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. She already knew all eyes were on the two. This hadn't been the first time they had been late, but it had been the first time they arrived at the same time and with her face already beat red, which left a lot of questions about what had transpired just moments prior to their arrival.

Mina leaned in, giggling like a giddy child as she elbowed Ochaco in the side. "So, interesting morning, hm?"

"Shut it, Mina," she murmured, letting her head fall against her desk. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, but you will. If not now, later!"

Ochaco turned her head so that she could face the pink haired girl while still resting her face against her desk. "Why are you so mean to me?"

Mina winked and lifted her chin, giving her best confident smile. "Because you're the one who decided to come in late with your boyfriend wearing the reddest face I've ever seen," she said matter-of-factly. "So of course I want details."

"Alright, enough chatter," Aizawa announced, giving each of his students a stern look.

Despite the hushed classroom, Ochaco found it impossible to focus on anything. For some reason her mind kept reeling. This morning had definitely been a moment that caused embarrassment, but it wasn't the primary thought on her mind. It was more or less why they had decided to meet in a closet. They were all in the first month of their third year at U.A. and busy was an understatement when it came to classes and work-studies. It had become a very rare occasion when she would see her classmates regularly and it was becoming quite the same for her and Katsuki.

This morning had been the first time they had seen each other this week. Katsuki, Todoroki, and Izuku still interned at Endeavors office and the man had been relentless, calling them in for an entire week already. By the time he had returned this morning, they had a short amount of time to reconnect, which mostly involved a steamy make-out session. Unfortunately, everyone was awake and roaming the halls, making it impossible to sneak in one another's dorm room without a slew of comments being thrown their way; hence the meeting in the closet. It hadn't been the most perfect set up, but it didn't matter as long as she got to see her boyfriend.

Ochaco idly tapped her pencil on her notebook, her honeyed eyes reading over the notes she had prepared the night before. Since class 1-A had been such an unruly bunch, the school had decided to keep Aizawa as their homeroom teacher, believing that it was for the best both for him and the students. She had no complaints. They had all learned a lot from Aizawa and she was quite certain that any other teacher wouldn't have been able to put up with what this particular set of students had to offer.

It was just so strange seeing everything as it was when she first started school here, yet everything had changed in it's own way.

She sighed and leaned back, her gaze rising to catch Katsuki looking back at her, his eyebrows quirked up in question. She gave him a short wave and smile, realizing that her thoughts must have made her look way too serious while sitting at her desk. He had rolled his eyes at her, but couldn't keep the smirk from appearing on his lips as he looked back around to face the front.

Izuku was beside her, mumbling incoherently as he scribbled down notes furiously. That was another thing that had changed that no one fully saw coming, was Katsuki and Izuku's relationship. The two still instilled the fierce competition to one up each other, but now they had been through so much that they actually resembled something of a friendship. It had become a relief to see, no longer feeling torn between someone she loved and her friends. Things had merged quite strangely.

"Deku, what are you working on?" Ochaco whispered, leaning over to catch a peek at his notebook. He had been writing so quickly his handwriting was practically it's own language.

Izuku became silent, his head popping up to look at her. "Oh, Uraraka, I was just catching up on some notes. I haven't really had much time to study this past week."

"Endeavor keeps you all pretty busy, doesn't he?"

Izuku laughed nervously and nodded. "Yeah, it's been tough keeping up. In our free time Kacchan has been tutoring me a bit, but you know how that goes sometimes."

Oh, she knew all too well. She had been present during many tutoring sessions that ended with those two boneheads coming up with some sort of competition vs. actually studying. Despite loving Katsuki, Ochaco still found herself studying with Momo on most nights when a test was on the horizon, much to the explosive heroes chagrin.

When the bell rang, Ochaco jumped in surprise, causing Izuku to tilt his head at her. "You look a bit worn yourself, Uraraka. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, smiling and waving her hand dismissively. "I guess I've been mostly caught up in my thoughts today for some reason. I keep reminiscing on how everything had changed since we first started U.A."

"Things have been different since so much happened during our first year," he added, nodding. "Our second year felt like it went by in a blur. After this year we'll all be aiming to get our actual hero licenses, you know?"

Katsuki came sauntering up, his hands shoved into his pockets as he moved to sit at the edge of Ochaco's desk. "What're you two going on about?" he inquired, yawning.

"Just about how much has changed since our first year here," Izuku stated, smiling. "Uraraka has been feeling reminiscent today, it seems."

Katsuki's lips formed his usual cocky smirk as he leaned down, his nose brushing against hers. "That so?"

Ochaco returned his smirk with one of her own before planting a quick kiss on him and standing. "What's it to you?" she challenged. "If I remember correctly, you said reflecting on the past was a waste of time, didn't you?"

"Because it is. We have futures to look forward to and we won't be getting there by fucking daydreaming about what's already happened," he said.

"True, but you can't really deny that the past is relevant to some degree," Izuku stated, shrugging. "Knowing where your origin is can help you reach your final destination."

"Tch, you sound like a damn philosophy book or some shit, Deku." Katsuki jabbed his thumb into his own chest, his smirk broadening. "My final destination will be as the Number One Hero."

Giving his own smirk, Izuku crossed his arms after he flung his backpack over his shoulder. "We'll see about that one, Kacchan."

"You'll be the Number Two Hero, at fucking best!" he snapped, yet his tone held more of the competitive edge than malice as it had in previous years. It made Ochaco smile as she watched them arguing as actual friends now and not as some kind of obstacle to one another.

"We're going to be late to our next class," she announced, glancing at the clock. "You two go ahead, I still have to gather up my things, it'll only take a minute."

"Speaking of late, you two came in twenty minutes late this morning," Izuku teased. He had already begun moving toward the door, having placed a decent amount of distance between him and Katsuki's explosive fist.

"Oi, you wanna fight!? When you get a damn girlfriend you'll have days you're late because you're—"

Ochaco reached up and slapped her hand over Katsuki's mouth, her face lighting up. "Both of you knock it off and go to class!" She dropped her hand to her side, her eyes rolling to the ceiling as she let out an exasperated sigh. "You two, I swear."

"Yeah, yeah…" Katsuki murmured, though he now seemed more focused on her flustered reaction than what Izuku had been going on about. He moved to face her, tilting his head as he captured her lips in a full kiss, taking her off guard. Izuku just laughed to himself as he left the classroom to head to his next class.

Ochaco found herself leaning into him instinctively. Sure they had their reunion make-out session in the closet earlier, but this kiss was different from the physical urgency that had overtaken them. This kiss was soft and blissful, a silent confession of love they rarely displayed in public. It was the confirmation that he had missed her as much as she did him.

When they parted, Ochaco couldn't help the giddy smile from appearing. "We're going to be late again," she murmured against him, laughing softly. "Go on ahead, I'll be there in a minute."

"Alright, Angel. Don't make me have to come back and get you," he warned, before moving toward the door.

As Ochaco gathered up her things, she hummed softly to herself, having been the last one in the classroom. Even Aizawa had left to do something. It felt strange being in the classroom alone, but somehow seeing the sun flicker in, the spring air coming in through the window, it all made her feel untethered by the urgency needed to get to her next class.

But as she slung her bag over her shoulder and moved toward the door, she stopped, blinking in surprise. Standing there was a small boy, his hair black as midnight, his eyes a surprisingly sharp cobalt blue.

"Who are you?" she asked, tilting her head in question. She didn't know any of the teachers to have a child that looked like this. Such striking features were something she would have surely remembered, right? Slowly Ochaco reached her hand out toward the boy, her smile infectious as he offered her a smile of his own, but he didn't take her outstretched hand. Instead, he turned and disappeared through the doorway and down the hall. "Hey wait!"

When she ran out into the hall after him, Ochaco stopped dead in her tracks. The hallway was dark and empty, not a single soul in sight. These hallways should be bustling with students, yet she stood there alone.

"What in the…?" Her gaze swept the area, searching for any sign of the small boy. He looked no older than ten, yet that strange gleam in his eye gave him a much more distinguished look. Something seemed a bit off about him. "Hey, what's going on?" she called, hoping to maybe to get a response, yet only silence greeted her. Not even the teachers were out and about.

Inhaling sharply, Ochaco went back into the classroom and leaned against the wall, trying to collect her thoughts. This had to be some kind of illusion Quirk, right? A chill raced down her body and she suddenly felt like she was standing in a walk in refrigerator. She rubbed her arms to try and generate heat. "What the hell is going on?"

"You shouldn't cuss."

Ochaco whirled around, seeing the boy standing in the doorway again. He was frowning this time, like something was bothering him as he looked at her. She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, I thought you ran off."

"Usually when I run off, things go back to normal," the boy murmured, his frown deepening.

"You mean the empty halls?" she inquired. "Do you have a Quirk that changes things?"

The boy remained silent, reluctant to answer. Instead he moved over toward her, his small hand extending out until it touched her arm. In an instant Ochaco felt the chill around her body evaporate and the room suddenly became brighter. Noise of chattering students filled her ears, much to her relief. But when she looked down to where the boy stood, he was gone. Quickly she rushed out into the hallway. Students were making their way to their classes as the bell rang and she wasted no time maneuvering through small groups to get down the hallway where Katsuki was standing with Kirishima and Kaminari, his face strewn together in frustration.

"Sorry I'm late!" she said, waving toward them. Katsuki's attention shot to her, his crimson hues usually wide. He practically jumped her the second she got close enough. His hands were on either side of her shoulders, gripping her firmly as he looked her up and down in speculation. "What's gotten into you?"

"I could ask the same thing," he shot back. "Where the hell have you been?"

Confusion plastered itself across Ochaco's face as she blinked at him, her smile daft. "Huh…? I told you I would only be a few minutes late. I was just gathering my things."

"_A few minutes_?"

"Uraraka," Kirishima said, rubbing his head nervously. His usual smile wasn't present on his face. "You haven't been to your last two classes. Everyone has been looking for you. We thought maybe you were feeling sick and went to the infirmary or something, but we couldn't find you."

Another wave of confusion flew over the gravity hero. "I was literally just in homeroom. I saw you guys just a few minutes ago."

Kaminari, who had been standing there charging his phone, looked back and forth between the two in silence. Finally he held his phone up to show the time. "Nah, It's been like two hours since homeroom, Uraraka."

"What? That's not possible!" She quickly dug her own phone out, causing the screen to light up. "Look it still says it's eight fifty-five. Your time must be wrong, Kaminari."

Katsuki fished his own phone out and handed it to her. "Maybe yours is off, though I don't see how it could make you just miss two fucking hours of class," he snapped. He grabbed her hand and led her off to the side, away from earshot of his two friends. "Ochaco, are you alright?"

"Really, Katsuki, I'm fine. I don't know if this is some kind of prank, or what, but it's not funny." She said, frowning. "I was literally gathering my books up and I stopped for a moment because some boy had come into the classroom. He looked lost. I'm not sure. I tried to ask him questions but he had disappeared."

"What the hell? Why didn't you start off by saying this?" he chided, his teeth gritting. "Where the fuck did he go?"

"I don't think he was dangerous," Ochaco soothed. "I think he had an illusion Quirk or something like that. He had made the hallways look completely empty then normal again. Maybe he's the son of one of the teachers or he was brought in like Eri was? Maybe his illusion made it seem like time had passed or something."

She stepped away from Katsuki and held her arms out, motioning toward her whole body as if to show him that she was perfectly fine. Instead of letting his gaze fall over her, he drew her into a tight hug. Apart of her couldn't blame him for worrying. Neither of them had a good track record when it came to disappearing without saying anything.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'll try to pay more attention to the time, okay?"

"You better, you had me worried sick," he shot back softly.

From by the doorway, Kirishima and Kaminari were both smirking as they watched the two. The redhead nudged the electric hero in the side, snickering. "Remember when Bakugou was all against feelings? Now look at him, so grown up and manly!"

"I can still hear you, shit-for-brains!"

"Gotta go!" The two scurried off, laughing at the dispense of Katsuki's flustered face as he shouted a string of curses after them.

In the midst of his shouting, Ochaco had grabbed his hand and began dragging him off in the opposite direction. "Come on, we still have one more class before lunch."

* * *

That evening, Ochaco had walked back to the dorms with Mina and Asui. Katsuki had received a call from Endeavor's office and motioned for her to go on without him. She had felt nervous about leaving him behind since the incident earlier, but with Izuku agreeing to stay with and walk back when he was finished had placed a bit of ease on her.

"Ribbit. So you think it was an illusion Quirk?" Asui inquired, her index finger to her chin. "That seems like a powerful Quirk to have."

"Yeah, no kidding. Especially if he can literally change the layout of an entire classroom and hallway," Mina added. "Crazy stuff."

"Did you tell Aizawa about it?"

"Yeah, he said he didn't know of anyone who had brought a kid to the school. He said he would look into it, though." Ochaco shrugged her shoulders. "It was just so strange. One second it felt as though everything were normal and okay, the next the halls became quiet and the classroom was freezing."

Mina bit her lower lip as she mulled over Ochaco's words. "That seems super scary. An illusion Quirk that can affect both your sight and touch?"

"Unless it's not an illusion," Asui stated. "Maybe he can manifest things. Ribbit."

"Ugh, this is creeping me out, you guys! Let's talk about something else?" Mina rubbed her arms, warding off the chill that had overtaken her. "What should we do for dinner?"

"Good question. Ribbit."

As they entered the dorms, the main room was abuzz with energy. Ochaco blinked, glancing around at everyone. Tokoyami and Ojiro were on the couch playing chess, Momo was standing beside Todoroki in the far corner while he spoke urgently on the phone, likely from his father. Sero was chastising Mineta about something while Kaminari sat on the couch talking to Jirou, who was leaned in a bit closer than usual.

"I didn't think we stayed at the school that late," Ochaco stated, entering the dorms. She waved to a few of her classmates as her and Asui made their way to the elevator. Mina had bounded off to locate Kirishima, who had apparently been somewhere in the kitchen area looking for something. Everyone else must have been upstairs in their rooms.

"Let's change clothes and get ready for a bath. We'll figure dinner out when Bakugou and Midoriya return."

"Sounds good to me. A bath sound so nice right now." Ochaco could only imagine how great the water would feel on her body. She hadn't been able to entirely ward off the chill from her earlier run in with the strange boy.

* * *

"What did Endeavor's office want?" Izuku said as soon as Katsuki hung up. He had remained out of earshot and had found it weird that he himself hadn't received a call.

Katsuki shrugged. "Apparently they didn't like mine and icy-hot's last skirmish. We fucked up one of the walls in the training hall. He called to complain about it."

That answered that. Izuku had already left Endeavor's office when Katsuki and Todoroki had decided upon an impromptu spar, which had evidently left a wall in ruin. "We should probably head back now. Uraraka looked worried."

"Yeah, she's been acting weird today," Katsuki noted as his eyebrows furrowed together. "Ever since she had a run in with that fucking brat."

"I wonder if anyone else saw him. It seems a bit odd that a kid would have gotten in and would be running around like that." Izuku had already begun walking down the main path toward the dorms, holding his chin between his fingers as he let his mind run rampant with speculation.

Katsuki came up beside him, hands shoved into his pockets. He roughly bumped his shoulder into Izuku, causing the green haired boy to stumble. "Come on, let's just get back. I'm fucking starving."

As the two made their way back, both were unaware of a pair of cobalt eyes watching their every move.

* * *

"Oi, where's Ochaco?" Katsuki demanded, using his foot to kick open the main door.

Iida had immediately closed the distance from the couch to his classmates, his hand chopping the air with its usual intensity. "What have I told you about damaging school property, Bakugou?"

"Hah?" Feigning ignorance, the blonde shoved past the class rep and let his crimson hues sweep the room, frowning when he didn't see the face he was looking for. "Cheeks better have not gone to bed yet," he muttered.

Izuku greeted Iida with a wave. "Sorry, he's been a bit moody since we got back," he said softly. "Hey, Kacchan, where are you going? Aren't you going to eat dinner? You said you were starving…"

"Later. I need to find Ochaco," Katsuki said, making a b-line to the elevator. He stabbed the button with his finger, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the chime

When he reached the fourth floor, he fished out his phone and brought up Ochaco's number, letting his finger glide across the screen.

'_**You in your room?'**_

By the time he had reached his own room, his phone chirped, lighting up with a candid shot he had managed to take of the gravity hero during training one day. His lips curled into a faint smile when he saw the image and opened up the new message.

'_Not yet. Was in the bath. Where are you?'_

Katsuki tossed his bag on the floor and shut his door, moving toward the closet as he shrugged out of his button up.

'_**Meet me in my room when you can, Cheeks.'**_

A response came through almost immediately.

'_Stop calling me Cheeks.'_

"Really?" Rolling his eyes, he fingered in a reply before tossing the device on his bed.

'_**Angel.'**_

It had felt like ages since he had been in his room, despite it only having been a week. Since the demand for hero's had gone on the rise, there were times when students would be gone for days, sometimes weeks, and Katsuki was no exception. He had spent the last week holed up at the Todoroki residence since getting to Endeavor's office wasn't far from there and in most circumstances he wouldn't have cared much if it weren't for the fact it kept him away from Ochaco. Not to mention keeping up with classwork had become a bigger pain as well.

The work-studies had placed a great deal of strain on their relationship, but both of them were determined to reach their goals as hero's without giving up on one another in the process. This would be their last year as students and if they couldn't make it with the stress they had now in their lives, they wouldn't ever make it once they became Pro's.

After Katsuki changed into his usual pair of black sweats and a black shirt, he heard a faint knock on his door. He opened the door to see Ochaco standing there in a pair of pink shorts and a black hoodie she had 'borrowed' from him last year, her auburn locks, now reaching past her shoulder blades, dripping wet from her bath. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of her and impatiently ushered her inside his room before pushing her against the wall, his lips finding hers immediately.

Ochaco let out a surprised squeak, which became quickly muffled against the kiss. Her arms found their way around his neck as she allowed herself to arch into him, permitting him to snake his arms around her waist. "Someone's pent up," she murmured against him playfully.

"You have no fucking idea," he said breathlessly, his tongue flicking out against her lower lip.

Ochaco drew her head away, moving up on her tiptoes so that she could be tall enough to nudge the nape of his neck. She let her tongue traced over his skin, the scent of caramel and spice intoxicating her.

"You want it as badly as I do, Angel."

"How do you figure?" she inquired, pulling away to look at him with those sultry honeyed eyes.

Katsuki lifted a strand of her wet hair between his fingers as he rested his forehead against hers. "Because you didn't bother to dry your hair. You're going to catch a cold, you know."

Frowning, the gravity hero's cheeks puffed out and jerked her head away. "Way to put a damper on the mood."

"It's only temporary," he said, nipping at her earlobe. "As much as I want to bend you over and fuck you till your legs give out, I also don't want to fucking get sick, Ochaco."

Reluctantly she untangled herself from the blonde and made her way over to his closet and rummaged through it until she found his towel and draped it over her hair. "Happy now?"

"What, that the love of my life isn't going to get sick because she was in too big of a hurry to dry her damn hair? Yeah, I fucking am." He came up from behind her, taking the towel and assisting her. "We have all night, Angel."

"I guess you're right," she said, moving toward the window and pulling the blinds back slightly. "Everyone is still awake anyway, so I guess we should wait until later to do anything."

"Afraid someone will hear?" he teased, his lips curling into a mischievous smirk. The explosive hero brought his arm around her waist again, dipping his head to kiss her neck. "Let them hear. Maybe they'll fucking learn something about how to please someone properly."

With flushed cheeks, Ochaco's body went rigid against him, her eyes widening. "Katsuki…not to uh…ruin the mood…" She lifted a shaky finger to the window, causing the blonde's crimson hues to follow curiously. "That's the kid that I saw earlier, the one that did something weird to the classroom."

Sure enough, the boy Ochaco had met earlier was sitting on the ground with a book, huddled up in a large jacket. He looked almost bored, like whatever he was reading held little interest to him.

"The fuck…? What the hell is he doing outside the dorms?" Katsuki instinctively brought Ochaco closer to him as he glared down at the boy. "He gives me the fucking creeps."

"He was strange when I met him. He didn't talk much and I honestly couldn't tell you what his Quirk was. It was unsettling—huh? Hey, where are you going?!" Ochaco turned away from the window and watch as the explosive hero stalked off toward the door, his fists clenched.

"I'm going down there to see what the hell is up with him," he replied and was out the door before the gravity hero could fully wrap her mind around his words.

Finally she rushed out of his dorm, watching as he was punching the button to the elevator. "Katsuki, what if it's dangerous? Shouldn't we just get Aizawa or someone?"

"It's a damn kid, Ochaco. Just stay in my room, I'll be back."

Just as the elevator doors closed, the door to the dorm beside Katsuki's opened and Mina peeked her head out, followed by Kirishima. "What's going on?" she asked, tilting her head.

Ochaco blinked and turned to face them. "That kid I saw earlier is outside the dorms. I saw him when I looked out the window."

Mina's golden eyes widened, a shiver racing down her body as she began gnawing on her bottom lip. "For real? Like he's outside right now?"

"Where's Bakugou?" Kirishima piped in, looking around.

"He went outside to talk to the kid," Ochaco said, laughing nervously. "I told him we should just tell Aizawa, but he wouldn't listen."

Without a word, Kirishima darted back into his room and yanked open the blinds. Mina and Ochaco came in after him, peeking over his shoulder. The boy was still there, but he wasn't reading his book anymore, but rather staring off at something in the distance.

"Holy crap… That kid is giving off some seriously freaky vibes," Mina stated, rubbing her arms. "What's Bakugou going to do anyway?"

"Guess we're about to find out," Kirishima said, pointing to the window. Katsuki had made it outside rather quickly. He was walking toward the kid, likely speaking in a string of curses based off the pissed off look he wore. When the boy turned to look at Katsuki, it was like his eyes glowed and the trio from the window all froze with unease.

"He's even weirder than he was earlier," Ochaco noted. By this point, Katsuki was standing directly in front of boy, who remained completely unfazed. Seconds passed excruciatingly slow and it didn't appear the boy had any intention of leaving, even after Katsuki had let out a few small explosions in his palm.

But then the boy finally moved. He stood slowly to his feet, leaving his book on the ground and reached up a hand toward the explosive blonde. When it hand touched Katsuki's arm, the two suddenly disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

An awkward silence fell over Ochaco, Mina, and Kirishima as they all blinked in confusion, their minds not quite rendering the situation until Mina let out a surprisingly shrill yelp.

"They disappeared! What the hell just happened?!"

"Kat…suki…?" Ochaco murmured, voice trialing, left eye twitching.

"So much for an easy year…"

* * *

A/N: WOO! HERE IT IS! First chapter of the sequel to Spark! So a few things… Since we don't actually know how their third year will actually be like since the series hasn't actually gotten there yet, I'm making a few guesses on how some of the characters would develop. In my personal preference I have Katsuki and Izuku getting along a bit better, because truthfully my hope for the actual canon is that they do become somewhat more civilized towards one another as they mature throughout the series.

Hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter and stick out with me for this! I'm having a lot of fun writing this so far (three chapters written thus far)

Remember to read, review, drop some kudos if you like the story :)


	2. Chapter 2 - Sleeping Moon

**Unfolding Time  
**_Chapter Two – Sleeping Moon_

_A/N: Adult content present in this chapter, you have been warned._

* * *

As the dormitory surroundings melted away from sight, Katsuki found himself instinctively turning back toward his window, yet what he found was a black sky, laced with the glow of festival lanterns. He wheeled back around, crimson hues narrowed into a glare reserved for the strange boy, but he was gone. Instead he saw a small pathway leading towards laughter and music.

'_Where the fuck am I?_' he thought, frowning. At that point he didn't know whether or not to give into the seething rage he felt or to the overwhelming curiosity that had lifted in him as he began walking down the path.

When he had emerged from the wooden area, light enveloped him as he gazed over crowds of people lining several festival booths. Food and fireworks permeated the air, the sudden intoxicating scent nearly overwhelming him, mixing with the shrill voices of young children running past. The dorms were nowhere in sight. In fact, nothing about where he was resembled anything familiar.

A passerby bumped his shoulder against him, slurring out an apology before stumbling off, immediately sending a jolt through him. This whole thing definitely wasn't coming off as an illusion and this was far more than an empty hallway or cold classroom.

"I didn't mean to take us here."

Katsuki jerked his head down, eyes landing on the strange boy. "Where the hell am I and how did you disappear so damn fast?"

The boy shot him a glare. "I told you not to cuss," he mumbled. "We're in this mess because of that."

"Hah? How the hell is me cussing the cause of this?"

"I can't control my power when I become upset," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "Though this is the first time that I have jumped through time this far. It only seems to be with you and that girl."

Katsuki blinked, confusion plainly evident on his face. "What do you mean by 'jumped through time'?" But before a response could be given, the boy was gone again. "That fucking brat." His eyes swept the area again. If that kid's abilities only interacted with him and Ochaco as he hinted towards and this place didn't look familiar, then this had to be an event that had occurred in Ochaco's life.

Slowly he made his way through the crowd, trying to glimpse each passing face. It was becoming an overwhelming sea of strangers and he felt his gut tighten with each step. If this really did involve Ochaco, where was she? How old was she in this moment in time? Would he be able to even recognize her? His mind became fleeting with questions, yet in an instant each of them became answered when his crimson hues fell upon a small child toward the center of the festival, her auburn eyes staring sadly up at the sky, her pink cheeks as round as he knew them to be in his time.

"Ochaco…"

Tears welled in her eyes as she nervously rubbed the pads of her fingers. She looked no more than five here, all bundled up in her summer yukata and a small backpack nestled at her side as she sat perched on the edge of a fountain.

Katsuki found himself walking toward her without thinking, but said nothing as he took a seat, maintaining several feet of space between them. Even though he knew Ochaco, he couldn't just walk up to her past self and expect everything to be okay. He had met Ochaco's parents numerous times, yet there wasn't any sign of them. He found it hard to believe they would have just left her alone like this.

"Did you get separated from your parents?" he inquired softly, voice shaking. He didn't want to scare her. In this moment he was nothing more than a stranger, yet he couldn't help it. Something in him told him to reach out to her.

Ochaco's head jerked in his direction, her eyes widening as she stared at him. For the briefest moments, her tears stopped and the look she gave him was of amazement rather than fear or suspicion. "Your hair is so spiky," she noted, her tone bewildered.

For a long moment, Katsuki just stared at her, mesmerized by how easily distracted she had become. This was definitely Ochaco, there was no doubt about it. He chuckled and turned his attention toward the night sky. With the light of the festival in the way, not many stars were in sight, even with how pitch black their backdrop was. "Why are you crying?" he asked finally.

Ochaco sniffled, her own attention dragging from his hair to the sky. "The moon is sleeping. Every festival it's always out, but it's not here tonight."

'_She's crying because the moon isn't visible_?' His crimson hues fell back down to her, noting how her eyes began to well with fresh tears. "The moon will eventually wake up," he assured. The feeling emerging inside him was a strange one, something he had never quite felt before. Whenever he was with Ochaco he felt immense joy and love for her, yet seeing her as a small and sad child wrenched at his heart in a way he never thought possible.

"What if the moon never wakes up?"

Her question had caught him by surprise. How could such a small child have such a perplexing question? He watched her as she stared up at the sky once more and a faint smile spread along his lips. "It'll wake up."

Ochaco messily wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled again. "Really?"

"I promise."

She nodded, seeming content with his answer. "I tried to make an origami moon, but I couldn't," she said while reaching for the pink backpack next to her. She unzipped it and pulled out a small white box and opened it, revealing inside a multitude of various origami pieces folded from colorful paper. Katsuki watched her closely as she took out a gold-papered butterfly. "I became really good at making butterflies," she gleamed proudly. "This one is my favorite one."

Katsuki tensed up as she scooted closer to him until she was sitting directly next to him. The people passing by didn't seem to even glance their way or show the least bit concern for the young child. Was it because she looked so calm and happy whenever she looked up at him? Did the people passing by think they were siblings? It didn't matter what strangers thought, it was her parents that he was concerned about if they saw their little girl talking to some third year.

Ochaco didn't seem to notice his sudden discomfort as she held out the butterfly to him. "I used wrapping paper to make this one," she said, turning it around in her fingers. The gold shone brightly against the lantern lights, gleaming like a star. It was well made considering a young child made it, yet she seemed to have gotten the folding pattern down quite well compared to some of the other ones Katsuki had glimpsed in the box. "You should have it."

"Why would you want me to have it? You don't even know me," he stated, his eyebrow quirking up. When she nudged his arm, he reluctantly held out his hand and watched as she put the small origami butterfly in his palm and offered up the biggest smile he had ever seen before.

"Because I want you to have it." She snapped the box shut and put it back into her backpack, zipping it up before hopping down off the fountain. "I have to go, my parents are probably looking for me now," she said softly, yet her smile remained. Her small figure began to run off into the crowd of people, her hand waving at him as she went. "Bye-bye spiky hair!"

Annoyance briefly flickered across Katsuki's features. '_Spiky hair_?' But before he could think too much on the nickname she had bestowed upon him, everything around him began to fade and blur, melting away in a similar fashion as it had before.

In a matter of seconds, he was back outside the dormitory, alone, holding onto a gold origami butterfly.

"Katsuki!"

The blonde turned in time to see Ochaco, Mina, and Kirishima running toward him. He blinked in confusion as he watched them, his hand gently curling over the treasure in his hand.

Ochaco was the first to reach him, her arms immediately flying around him as she crushed herself to him. Her eyes welled with tears similarly to how they had for her past self. "What happened? Are you alright? What happened to that kid?"

"Ochaco, calm down," he said gently, his arms wrapping around her. "I'm not injured, everything is fine."

When Kirishima and Mina approached, the redhead gave Katsuki a rough pat on the back. "Dude, we all watched you disappear into thin air."

"It was super weird the way that kid was looking at you," Mina added, her golden eyes scanning the area. "Speaking of which, where did he go? He was here just a second ago."

Katsuki slowly pulled away from Ochaco and looked her dead in the eye, his hand reaching up to wipe away the tears that had began running down her cheeks. "I don't think that brat has control over his fucking Quirk," he said.

"What did he make you see?" Ochaco asked. Her hands were still fisted into his shirt, refusing to let go of him entirely, as though he would disappear again.

"His Quirk has nothing to do with illusions like you thought."

Kirishima frowned and reached over to take Mina's hand, his own insecurity over the situation becoming apparent.

"He went back in time."

"Whoa, wait," Mina said, shaking her head. "How can someone go back in time? Isn't that impossible?"

"And how do you know you actually went back in time vs. it just being an illusion?" Ochaco challenged, swallowing the lump in her throat. "He could have just made you see something from the past, like a memory or something."

Katsuki held out his hand, opening it to reveal the gold butterfly to her. "I'm pretty sure he took me to the past where you went to a festival when you were a kid."

For a long moment, everyone stared at the origami piece. Mina and Kirishima exchanged confused glanced while Ochaco's eyes welled up again with tears. Slowly she untangled her hands from Katsuki's shirt and reached for the paper, picking it up as though it were the most delicate thing ever.

"I remember this," she breathed softly. "It had been my favorite one. Katsuki how did you…?"

"Your past self gave it to me. You were at a festival, but you had wandered away from your parents. When I saw you, you were sitting on a fountain, crying because you thought the moon was sleeping and wouldn't wake up." As he relayed the details to her, Ochaco felt a chill run up her spine. "And then you gave me that."

She flipped the origami butterfly over in her hand, examining it carefully. It had no appearance of age on it, no rips or tears on its pristine paper edges. "How is this possible?"

"I'm not sure, but we should get inside," he said. His crimson hues scanned the area one last time. Though it had been a rather enlightening experience to see Ochaco's past self, it still raised several questions about the boy who had made such a thing possible in the first place. Where had he come from? What was the full extent of his abilities? Apart of him also wondered where Ochaco had been taken to when she had her run in with the boy, but what was a question for another day. For now, he just wanted everyone inside where it was safer.

Everyone walked back in silence, ignoring some of the questioning stares of their classmates. Kirishima and Mina walked hand in hand back to his dorm, stopping just outside the doorway to look at their friends.

"You two gonna be okay?" Mina inquired.

"We'll be fine," Ochaco assured, doing her best to smile. "I'm a bit freaked out, but I'm sure there's a logical explanation to everything. Katsuki and I will talk to Aizawa in the morning about what happened.

As they said their goodbyes, Katsuki and Ochaco retreated into his room, the silence drifting between them becoming deafening. She could see the overwhelming thoughts plaguing the explosive blonde, yet despite such a busy mind, his gaze never left hers.

"Katsuki, are you okay?" she asked softly. Ochaco took him by the hand and led him to the bed, motioning for him to sit down with her. She had been idly twirling the gold butterfly in her fingers the entire time, seeming lost in her own thoughts. "I remember making this. My parents couldn't afford the actual paper used to make origami, so I had saved the wrapping paper from my birthday the year before. When I got good enough at some of the designs using normal paper, I began using the wrapping paper to make them."

Katsuki reached over and took the butterfly from her and held it up so it caught the light in the room. "You called me 'Spiky Hair' when you first saw me," he stated, his lips curling into a faint smile. "Of all the fucking things to have called me, that's what you decided on."

Ochaco's face lit up and she quickly averted her eyes. "I seriously called you that?"

"Yeah. You didn't even ask me what my name was or seemed fazed that I was even talking to you." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close, planting a kiss on the side of her head. "You were a airhead even as a kid, who fucking knew?"

"Hey! That's rude. What makes even you say that?" she cried, pulling away and glaring daggers at him.

"What if I was a kidnapper or some shit? You eagerly talked to someone you didn't know, Ochaco."

The gravity hero thought for a moment before taking back the butterfly and standing to her feet. She moved over to his desk and gently placed the origami piece down before spinning to face him. "Maybe I sensed that you were trustworthy. Besides, obviously nothing bad happened if I'm standing in front of you now, right?"

"Yeah, lucky for you." Katsuki stood and closed the distance between them, moving in close and causing her to become pinned against the edge of the desk. He dipped his head down to the nap of her neck, nuzzling gently, inhaling the sweet smell of honey and jasmine. The scent was beyond intoxicating, especially mixed with the insecurity that had flooded through him that evening. They had run into their fair share of trouble, but nothing that scared him this much. If someone really could send others through time, wasn't it possible to change things or destroy something? What if somehow things became changed where their paths never crossed?

Feeling his heart rate increase sporadically through panic, Katsuki lifted his head and clashed his lips with hers, the urgency behind his actions welcomed. He wasn't the only one who felt the danger looming on the horizon and in the moment they were caught in an unknown. The strange boy appeared and disappeared without warning, and in his wake he had dragged them each into a different period of time that could potentially leave everything they had in ruin.

The thought of losing her terrified him, something he would not easily admit.

When their lips parted from one another, Katsuki pressed his forehead against hers and peered straight into those luminous honeyed eyes. "I need you, Ochaco," he whispered and knew permission was granted when she leaned her head to kiss him again, the urgency ever present with each action she took.

Without breaking the kiss, Katsuki trailed his hands over Ochaco's waist, relishing in each curve before his grip found its way to her bottom and hoisted her up effortlessly. Her legs wrapped around him, squeezing herself closer as her hands moved up around his neck and through the locks of hair she had once deemed as 'spiky' and took in the softness against her fingertips.

Ochaco couldn't deny the excitement that formed at the core between her legs as he led her back toward the bed and fell together against the sheets, still locked in a breathless kiss. She shifted her weight, maneuvering the two of them so that she found herself on top, straddling the explosive blonde and the growing erection he had forming beneath her.

Their lungs burned for air by the time the kiss broke and as they peered at one another, desire and passion fueling their current actions, Katsuki found himself in her control. Ochaco didn't often assume dominance in the bedroom, not because he wouldn't let her, but because she had never wanted it. She had always followed his lead, melding her desire with his, yet now she took the lead and he had no dissatisfaction over watching the assertive glint in her gaze.

He would willingly give her the world and more if it meant her happiness would remain intact.

Ochaco bit her lower lip as her hand roamed freely over Katsuki's chest, tracing each muscle pressing against his shirt before her fingertips found the edge and tugged greedily at it. Complying, Katsuki tore shirt over his head in one swift motion, discarding it to the floor. The gravity hero did the same. Her slender hands gripping the hem of her pink hoodie and lifted it over her, revealing that she had forgone wearing a shirt that evening and was left only in a thin sports bra and her shorts.

It was difficult for Katsuki to remain subdued for too long and Ochaco knew this. He could tell she enjoyed his impatience from the sly smirk that danced across her lips, the way her gaze had shifted mischievously as she ground her hips gently into him. His fingers already dug into the band of her shorts and pulled eagerly at them, working them down her hips, forcing her to lift herself off him momentarily to free her legs. As much as she wanted to take her place straddling him once more, she took the opportunity to dispose of Katsuki's remaining confinements until they were left free of any garments.

The silkiness of Ochaco's skin entranced Katsuki as his calloused hands moved up her curvaceous sides, past the jagged scar from her accident, clear up to the soft mounds that bounced gently with each movement she made. He quelled his desire with her breasts, using his thumbs to run soft, teasing circles over her nipples as she leaned forward to rummage through his bedside table for the necessary protection required for their next course of action.

Katsuki wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her warmth, to feel her body around him, their lips and tongues engaged in a fiery duel of passion, yet he remained still, his crimson hues watching her closely.

Ochaco found herself caught in the same predicament. She wanted desperately to give into her primal urges, but she had a rare opportunity to push the explosive blonde to the edge and she intended to take advantage of it in every way possible. She watched as Katsuki's breath hitched, her core pressing against his tip teasingly. She had leaned backwards, her hands resting against his thighs; cheeks flushed a deep red and waited until Katsuki's eyes fell to her core before she let herself sink down over him.

The initial shock of feeling him inside nearly sent her over the edge and she knew Katsuki had felt it to the way his hands gripped her hips, holding her in place as he adjusted himself.

"Katsuki…" she breathed, leaning forward. Her forehead brushed against his before capturing his lips in a frantic kiss, her tongue lashing out against his bottom lip. Passion had coiled around her, making her thoughts hazy and it was becoming quite apparent why she didn't take the lead often. At that point she didn't mind handing the reins back to Katsuki, to which he eagerly took.

The explosive hero rolled Ochaco over onto her back without disconnecting, his teeth catching her lip playfully. A soft moan slipped into the air around them, beckoning their desire to become unhinged. Katsuki pushed himself fully into her, feeling her back arch pleasantly against him; one hand gripping her hip, while his other reached up and tangled itself in her auburn locks. At that point, he couldn't stop himself. He thrust into her, drinking in each moan and gasp while keeping her safely anchored against him.

She was hot and tight around him, building him to his climax with each passing moment. Under normal circumstances he would have hushed her moans, urged that they kept their enthralled passion quiet, but he didn't care this time. This time he knew they both needed to feel the closeness, to give into everything they felt about one another, regardless of who could hear them on the other side of the wall. They needed this release so painfully bad.

"Kat…suki…!" Ochaco cried. Her legs swung up around him, allowing him deeper access as her core clenched, finding its release. Her nail raked down his back, causing blood to blossom faintly in her wake, the pleasure overtaking her body increasing as Katsuki's movements became more eager and faster, until finally he found his own release.

Katsuki collapsed beside her, his chest rising and falling as his lungs tried desperately to find a normal rhythm. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around the gravity hero, his fingertips running soft circles down her spine. "Are you okay, Angel?"

Nodding against him, Ochaco remained buried in his arms. Her body hummed pleasantly in her weakened state. They never lacked passion when it came to sex, but this had to have been the first time they had bypassed all forms of foreplay and jumped into their desires without a second thought. It had been the release needed to calm her nerves, to reassure her that Katsuki still remained there with her, that he wasn't lost to the time Quirk.

"Katsuki," she said softly, finally tilting her head up to look at him. Her eyes bore into his, concern flashing across her features. "Nothing is going to tear us apart, right?"

"Why would you even think that?"

"A time Quirk is dangerous. That kid was able to send you into my past. What happens if a villain finds out what that kid can do? Think of everything that could go wrong."

His arms tightened around her, his eyes narrowing. "Listen to me, Ochaco. There is _nothing_ that will drive us apart, do you understand? I don't care if it's some kid with a time Quirk or some fucking villain, I'm not letting anything take you from me," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "We'll keep each other safe, I promise you."

"I hope you're right, Katsuki."

"I usually am," he said, realizing in that moment that he had made a promise twice to Ochaco; one about the moon and one about their lives.

* * *

**A/N**: Ahh, sorry for the short chapter, there may be a few here and there. Sorry if the adult content isn't really your thing, I tried to write it out so it wasn't over-the-top but still steamy. I promise it won't turn into a 'porn with plot' kind of thing, but do expect some steamy moments though.

Remember to R&R! 3


	3. Chapter 3 - Hello Future

**Unfolding Time  
**_Chapter Three – Hello Future_

**A/N**: Thank you for the support! Don't forget to drop me some kudos if you like the story3

* * *

The next morning went about as well as Ochaco and Katsuki could hope for. They had presented what they knew about the strange boy and their experiences with his Quirk to Aizawa, resulting in a school wide search. Unfortunately, there wasn't a trace of the boy and no one else had come forward claiming to have seen him or have a run in with anything strange concerning time or their surroundings. At this point, U.A. had hit a snag on the mystery.

Ochaco leaned back against the wall, letting out a long sigh as she tilted her head up toward the ceiling. "I can't believe there's no trace of that kid anywhere," she murmured, dejected.

Izuku and Katsuki were sitting on the floor tinkering with Katsuki's bracers, the blonde occasionally lifting his gaze to look at the gravity hero. "Hard to catch someone if they have the ability to just disappear," he stated. He rolled the bracer in his hands, examining it carefully before shooting a glare at Izuku. "Oi, what the hell are you doing to it?"

"Trying to figure out how you're going to store your sweat. The whole point was to store it for a massive explosion, right? How are you going to do that with a smaller bracer?" At this point, Izuku was trying to locate a way to open up the device to peer inside, much to the annoyance of the blonde who then snatched the bracer away. "Hey, Kacchan! I was looking at that."

"And now you're fucking not," he spat. "You're going to break them if you keep fucking around."

Izuku narrowed his eyes, his cheek puffing out. "I wasn't going to break it, I just wanted to see how you planned on storing the same amount of sweat in something so small."

Katsuki let out something resembling a snarl as his palm ignited briefly. "Let me fucking worry about that, Deku!" When he calmed down, he set the bracers aside and got up, assessing the array of scattered tools and materials strewn about the floor. "It's getting late."

Ochaco merely watched from her position on the bed, her lips curled into a wide smile as she watched the two argue. She still found relief in seeing the two act more as brothers now than enemies and she couldn't help but smile each time they quarreled. She pulled out her phone, seeing it light up with a new message from Mina.

'_**I still have to take a bath tonight. Keep me company? :D'**_

Ochaco read over the message and fought her urge to roll her eyes, despite the smile forming on her lips. If there was one thing Mina couldn't do alone, it was taking a bath. The girl had to chat with someone and she had learned the hard way about bringing her phone in with her on a multitude of occasions. So now she just asked others to join her to stave off the silence.

'_I'll meet you there. Have to grab my stuff.'_

As Ochaco scooted off the bed and toward the door, Katsuki reached out and grabbed her hand. "You're leaving already?"

"I'll be back," she assured, smiling. "Mina asked if I still needed to take a bath, so I'm going to go join her." Her auburn eyes fell to the mass of tools, cloths with oil stains, and other various things before she lifted her gaze to those familiar crimson hues. "Besides, you two should probably start cleaning all this up."

"Why me?" Izuku inquired, his own gaze falling to the mess. "I didn't help that much."

"No, but you took out nearly every fucking tool I own," Katsuki spat as he pulled Ochaco into him. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Don't be long," he added quietly and watched as the gravity hero bounded off before returning his glare to Izuku.

* * *

"Ahh, the water feels too good!" Mina cried, relieved. Her pink body dipped below the surface until just her head remained the only thing not submerged. "The sparring we had to do today _killed_ me. I knew Ojiro was strong, but I didn't realize how much stronger he had gotten over the years."

Ochaco came in to sit beside her, her lips curled into a smile. "I mean, when is the last time you two actually sparred against each other?" she inquired.

"Honestly? I can't remember, but it sucked! I feel like my whole body turned to jelly." Mina sighed and sat back, her pink mane becoming droopy with water. "I didn't realize just how fast you had gotten, Ochaco. You kept up with Tsu really well."

"Yeah, but her tongue gives her a major advantage over me," she said, laughing nervously. "If I got too close, she just used it to push me away." For a long moment, she sat there, pondering over the day's events. "If I can get myself to move faster through the air, then maybe I would be able to take her on better. It's definitely something I need to work on."

"I'm sure you'll get there," Mina stated, her grin widening. "We've come a long way already, who's to say we're done improving, right?"

Ochaco couldn't help but let out a loud laugh as she struggled to cover her mouth in time. "Look at you so positive this evening."

"Somebody has to be."

After falling into their usual chatter, Ochaco felt the tension from the day begin to work its way from her muscles. If there was anything she could count on, it was her best friends to pull through and bring a smile to her face anytime she needed and today was certainly one of those days. She had felt unusually exhausted today despite her performance being on point during their sparring match-up's.

"You done?" Ochaco inquired, standing. She watched as Mina immediately popped up out of the water. "As good as the water feels, I'm starting to turn into a prune."

"Cause, you know nothing looks sexier to a man than a woman who looks like a prune," Mina teased, winking and causing a deep blush to bloom over the gravity hero's cheeks. "You two were a bit unhinged last night. I was actually pretty surprised, normally Kirishima and I are the ones getting yelled at for being loud."

Ochaco's whole body went rigid. "We were…that…loud?" she stammered, her blush deepening in color. She had already come to terms that their encounter last night had driven them into a frenzy, but had she really not bothered to keep quiet? Normally if she got too loud, Katsuki was the first to tell her to quiet down, yet he never once bothered to help her keep her voice under control.

Mina tilted her head as she patted the gravity hero on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it's not like people don't already know you and Katsuki do those kind of things."

"Mina! You're not making me feel better!"

"Sorry!" Though erupting in a fit of laughter, the acid hero couldn't help the goofy grin from appearing on her lips. "It's so adorable when you get so flustered over this kind of thing."

As they entered into the locker room, Ochaco let out a long, pent up sigh. "I really hope no one else complains about the noise," she murmured.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. If they haven't with Kirishima and I then the rare occasion between you and Bakugou will likely go unnoticed, for the most part." Mina dried off, shaking her head to make her hair puff up slightly. "Are you going back to his dorm after this?"

"Probably. We have a test tomorrow and there's a few things I I'm having serious trouble on," she said, shuddering at the thought of math. With her work study, she had fallen way behind on quite a bit of her classwork and tomorrow she and the rest of the work study group had three quizzes to make up.

"Right, so you two will be 'studying', huh?" Mina nudged Ochaco in the side, stifling a giggle.

Ochaco opened the door leading out of the dorms and back into the hallway, rolling her eyes as she went. "We don't do it every single night, Mina," she said. Her damp auburn locks had been tucked inside her black hoodie and the pink sweatpants she swore hung loosely on her. "You have a really dirty mind, you know that?"

"You don't hear any complaints from me, right?" Mina stated, joining her in the hallway only to come to an abrupt halt. She tensed up beside the gravity hero, her golden eyes looking off down the hallway.

"Mina?" Ochaco inquired, following the acid hero's gaze until they fell on a familiar pair of cobalt eyes. She found herself instantly stepping in front of her friend, her eyes narrowing. "Why do you keep showing up here?"

"Yeah, don't you know how disruptive you've been?" Mina moved to stand beside Ochaco, giving her a reassuring nod before returning her golden gaze back to the boy. "Why do you keep messing with Ochaco and Bakugou?"

The boy stared at them both, his own eyes slitting with sorrow. "I didn't mean to," he admitted. "The blonde one made me angry and suddenly I…" He looked down at his hands when he trailed off, tears welling in his eyes. "I couldn't control my Quirk."

Ochaco cautiously moved toward him, raising her hands up to show him she meant him no harm. "It's okay. What's your name?" she inquired softly. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka and behind me is Mina Ashido. We're not going to harm you."

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble!" the boy cried. The walls in the hallway began to shift and churn, causing the gravity hero to halt immediately and swallowed hard. She lowered her hands to her side, her gaze sweeping across the floor, to the ceiling, until finally she turned back toward Mina's whose eyes were wide with fear.

"Ochaco, what the hell is happening?" she asked frantically. "Why do the walls look like that?"

"He's using his Quirk," Ochaco stated and turned back toward the boy. "Everything is okay. I'm not angry with you at all, but you do need to try to calm down."

The boy shook his head, the tears forming in his eyes now spilling down his cheeks. "I can't stop it once it's started. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

The walls began to melt away and Ochaco felt her stomach leap as a wave of nausea hit her hard. The first time it happened she hadn't felt sick and Katsuki hadn't complained about feeling strange when he was thrown through time. So why was she suddenly sick to her stomach?

"Ochaco!" Mina had taken off at a full run, her arm outstretched toward the gravity hero. As the floor fell away, the acid hero swung her arms around Ochaco, squeezing her tightly. "Hang on to me!" she cried, shutting her eyes tightly.

"I feel sick, Mina," Ochaco groaned, closing her own eyes as her arms snaked around the pink haired girl.

"Just hang in there."

Within seconds, they felt solid ground beneath their feet, yet they both felt as though a truck had hit them. Mina was the first to open her eyes, letting her gaze fall over the unfamiliar room before she gently shook Ochaco. "Where are we?" she whispered, her voice shaking.

They had somehow wound up inside an apartment. The wall closest to the door was lined with shelves, a few containing books while the rest were of trophies, ribbons, and elegantly decorated plaques. In the center a beautiful leather sofa set with mahogany side tables to match were located, giving the air of expense, while located on the furthest end was a window that literally took up nearly ninety percent of the wall, it's curtains open to overlook the glittering nightlife of Tokyo. The view was absolutely breathtaking and the apartment alone was large and spacious, undoubtedly more expensive than anything Ochaco had been inside of, with the exception of Momo's home.

On the opposite end of the living room space a small hallway leading partly into a kitchen area, branched off and continued down to what the two girls assumed were other rooms. There was a hushed voice coming from the hallway and they could see a soft light spilling out of one of the rooms. Only a single light was on in the living room, making seeing much of the details amongst the shelves difficult to see as Ochaco released Mina and shakily made a few steps towards one of the plaques.

"We must have been thrown through time again," she whispered, looking over at the various ribbons and trophies, her eyes falling to one in particular. Her gut wrenched violently, panic suddenly engulfing her. "Mina, we have to go _now_."

Mina blinked back her surprise, yet despite how Ochaco was acting, she couldn't help but continuously glance toward the hallway. "You think? Someone is home right now and we have no idea whose apartment this is!" she whispered frantically.

"Oh, I know who it belongs to, which is why we have to go."

"Wait, whose is it? Why are you so nervous?" Mina hurried over toward the plaque, her golden eyes finding the exact one that Ochaco had been so invested in. "This place belongs to Bakugou? No freaking way!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Ochaco hissed, covering the pink haired girls mouth while holding an index finger to her own. Unfortunately to their dismay, the voice they heard had hushed and a flood of light erupted as the door housing the voice opened.

"Who the fuck's there?" the familiar voice demanded.

In sheer panic, both of the girls made a quick assessment of the front door and quickly began to move toward it. Ochaco knew that trying to escape what appeared to be her boyfriend's future apartment seemed entirely all too silly, but for her it was terrifying. Sure there was a chance that the second he saw her that everything would be fine, but considering that they knew nothing of what was happening, of how far they had been time jumped or even whether her and Katsuki were even together still in the future was mixed into a bowl of unknown. It was too risky to just smile at Katsuki and announce that she was from another time. And who knew, what if seeing Katsuki in the future somehow changed the past?

As her mind raced, Ochaco felt as though her heart was going to explode from her chest. She hurried Mina along toward the door, reaching it just as the entire living room filled with light from the switch Katsuki had flicked. They were within arms reach of the door, within reach of escaping, yet Ochaco couldn't help but peer over her shoulder and found herself locking eyes with those familiar crimson hues, which stared back in complete awe.

"Ochaco…?"

Mina yanked the door open and grabbed Ochaco by the arm, pulling her roughly along. The two quickly made their way down the hallway and to the stairs, trying hard to keep themselves from falling over one another as they safely made it to the bottom. Luckily, the apartment was only located on the second floor, making their trip rather short. When their slipper covered feet hit the pavement, they took off running, avoiding the curious and annoyed stares aimed in their direction as they darted into an ally just a block away. Both of them collapsed against one another, trying desperately to catch their breath.

"Why did we run?" Mina asked when her lungs finally stopped burning. "It was Bakugou, what was there to be afraid of?"

Ochaco peeked around the corner, relieved to not see any sign of Katsuki. She had half expected him to follow them, so chase them down and demand answers, but it didn't appear he had. When she turned to Mina, she laughed nervously. "What was I supposed to do? What if he didn't believe us? What if he called the cops and had us arrested?"

Mina quirked up an eyebrow before rolling her eyes. "I think you're overthinking this whole thing way too much, hon."

"What if Katsuki and I aren't even together in the future anymore? What if he takes one look at me and throws me out anyway? What if—" Mina lifted a singer to the gravity hero's mouth and silenced her before inhaling deeply.

"I think that the second you realized this was the future, you became worried about what the future looked like rather than talking to Katsuki himself," she stated. "You're afraid of finding out that something horrible happened or something happened to where you two aren't together anymore."

"I mean, partially," Ochaco admitted. She glanced down at her slippers, now grungy and gross from their short run down the street. "I'm sorry I panicked, but what would you have done if it was future Kirishima we were about to meet?"

Mina tapped her chin thoughtfully before smiling. "I would trust him not to just throw me out or overact, like you did just now, to actually hear me out."

"She has a point, Ochaco."

Both girls let out a surprised squeal, their heads jerking up toward the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the ally. There in all his adulthood glory, stood Katsuki, who peered down at them with an almost eerie calm. He jumped down effortlessly, using a small explosion to keep himself from hitting the ground too quickly. His crimson hues landed immediately on Ochaco, looking her up and down for a long moment before he let out a sigh. "Angel, you're always getting into some form of fucking trouble, I swear."

Katsuki peeked out of the ally way, assessing how many people were out and about. He was in luck, only one person was walking their dog this late at night. The last thing he needed was someone catching wind of him bringing two high school girls up to his apartment.

"What are you doing, Katsuki?"

"Making sure the coast is clear. C'mon, we're going back to the apartment where you both can explain this shit."

"Fair enough," Ochaco grumbled, looking toward the floor. Mina grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" Katsuki muttered, checking his phone for the twentieth time within the hour. He had bombarded Ochaco's phone with texts and even attempted to call her a few times, but everything was left unread and unanswered. He had known her to take the occasionally long bath, but nothing that lasted for over an hour, even when she did go with the acid hero.

Finally he pulled up Kirishima's number. He really didn't like having to ask others where his own girlfriend was, but considering the resent events that had taken place, Ochaco would forgive him if he went a little crazy trying to find her this time, right? His fingers glided over the keyboard, typing in a quick message to the redhead.

'_**Did Ashido return yet? Ochaco isn't back yet.'**_

Within seconds, Kirishima's response blipped through.

'_No, I was just about to text you the same thing.'_

Katsuki felt his gut wrench and he pocketed his phone as he got up and went to the door. Kirishima was already coming out into the hallway and heading toward him. His face contorted in worry.

"Do you think something happened to them?" Kirishima asked, shifting uncomfortably. "Mina was supposed to come by, but I haven't heard anything from her and she's not picking up her phone."

"Neither is Ochaco," Katsuki stated grimly. "Those two better have just lost track of time."

"Dude, don't even say that," the redhead hissed. "Not when some kid with a time Quirk is out and about."

"Right."

The two wasted no time making their way to the first floor and straight to the bath. To their surprise, they saw a pair of blue dotted PJ's pants and a grey t-shirt with no physical body in sight exiting the bath.

Kirishima waved and smiled, yet he couldn't entirely displace his worry. "Hagakure, hey! Do you know if Mina and Uraraka are still in the bath?"

The invisible hero stopped abruptly. "Oh, hey you two," she said, her voice giving away a smile. "Nobody was in the bath when I went to take a shower. Maybe they went for a walk?" The shoulder of her shirt lifted, indicating a shrug. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just thought we'd walk them back to their rooms when they were done, but looks like they were faster," Kirishima lied. Katsuki remained quiet, not even bothering to look at the invisible hero. Instead, his eyes were focused on a familiar pink towel that was laying just a ways off down the hallway. He was careful not to bring attention to it until after Hagakure left and when he was certain it was just him and Kirishima, he made his way to the towel and picked it up.

"This is Ochaco's," he stated. The towel was still damp as he clenched his fist around it, his teeth gritting.

"How much you wanna bet that that weird kid showed up when they were leaving the bath?" Kirishima said, crossing his arms. "We should tell the teachers about this right away." When the explosive blonde said nothing, Kirishima hesitantly nudged him on the shoulder. "Standing here won't bring her back. Let's see if we can figure out a way to bring them home, okay?

"Let's fucking go," he hissed, throwing the towel onto his shoulder. "I swear if that kid does anything to her, I'll fucking kill him.

* * *

Once the three made it back to the apartment, Ochaco remained hesitant near the doorway. Mina had already made her way to the couch and flopped down, her golden eyes assessing her surroundings excitedly. "Ochaco, you can't standing in the doorway all night! C'mon, sit down!" She patted the spot next to her, smiling as the gravity hero reluctantly shuffled toward her and sat down, remaining silent.

Katsuki took a seat on the further couch, his arms immediately crossing over his chest. His crimson hues bore into Ochaco and every move she made, seeming almost reminiscent. "So, spill it, what hell happened?"

Ochaco finally forced herself to look at him, to _really_ look at him. He had grown slightly taller than what he was in high school, but his height was hardly surprising, but rather the bulk in his muscle. His hair still fell across his forehead in spiky locks, almost covering a scar just above his left eyebrow. He wore a dark grey t-shirt with black sweatpants, similar to the ones she always saw him wear, but these ones had a distinct design on the leg that looked much like the symbol he had come up with to represent himself as Ground Zero. He shifted slightly, moving so that the symbol was out of view.

"Some kid sent us through time," Mina stated, shattering the silence that seemed to seep in at every opportunity. Ochaco couldn't seem to find her voice in the situation, afraid of what to say or how to say it. Since their run through the street, her auburn tresses had become tangled and frizzy, having not dried properly and the hood of the sweatshirt she wore was still damp from when it was housing her hair. She looked tired and stressed, dark circles beginning to form beneath her eyes.

'_What am I supposed to say_?' she thought glumly. Mina wasn't nervous at all, almost excited about to prospect of being in the future.

"A time Quirk?" Katsuki inquired, leaning forward. He laced his hands together and rested his chin on them as he stared thoughtfully for a moment. "Why would he send you through time?"

"He doesn't have control over it," Ochaco said, breaking her silence. Her honeyed eyes met his briefly before sweeping past him toward an old blanket she recognized all too well, one that she had on her bed this very moment back at her dorm. Its pink color had faded drastically and there was a corner on it that had begun to unravel. It was strange seeing something so familiar so old and worn, so well used. It made her heart beat faster and she found herself sweeping across the rest of the apartment for any further clues of her presence.

When she found none immediately within her line of sight, Ochaco strayed her attention back to the conversation at hand. Mina was prattling on about the boy and how they had already had encounters with his Quirk before, going on to describe him and how his name still eluded them. She had hoped that maybe he would have given her his name, making it easier to maybe find himself when he wasn't busy hurling people through time.

"How many encounters have you had with this kid?" Katsuki asked, his attention on Mina.

The pink haired girl shook her head. "This is my first encounter with his Quirk, but Bakugou—err, our Bakugou—got sent to the past and saw Ochaco as a kid. Her past self even gave him an origami butterfly she had made."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed, their attention drifting to the gravity hero. "Interesting. I don't recall any of this happening."

"Which means that whenever this kid uses his Quirks, it doesn't necessarily effect the past or present?"

"I wouldn't say that." Katsuki stood up and made his way toward the kitchen, seeming to forget his pose swap earlier to hide the symbol on his pants. It was in fact an official symbol for his title as Ground Zero, printed boldly across the upper thigh, the words of his name traveling down the length of his leg in red lettering. Ochaco couldn't help but smile. Seeing that surely meant that he had become a pro, right? A novice wouldn't have actual merchandise.

When he made his way into the kitchen, he took out three mugs; one Ochaco saw was hers that she had now. He put on the kettle and leaned against the counter, muttering something to himself out of earshot of the two girls. Mina had left her spot on the counter and joined him in the kitchen, her mouth running a mile a minute before Katsuki lifted a finger to his mouth and 'shhed' her.

"Huh? Do you have company, Bakugou?"

"Yes, and they're sleeping, so quiet down, will you?"

Ochaco perked her head up, tilting it slightly as though it would somehow help her see down the hallway. If it were her future self, wouldn't he have just said that? And certainly if something like this were to happen he would wake her up to let her know if they were in fact together, right? Feeling her chest tighten, she stood and made her way to the bookcases. Her fingers traced over the edges of each book, reading the titles that were all too familiar and a few that weren't. When she reached the plaque she had seen earlier, she stopped, taking it from its place and examining it carefully. Katsuki had been given an honorable award for the most saves. The wooden inlay was beautiful, but it didn't suit him at all. When she placed it back on the shelf, her auburn eyes welled with tears when she saw the next one, a plaque with her name on it, awarding her as the eighth most popular hero. It had a large amount of dust on it, indicating it had been there for a while and the wood it was made from was slightly faded.

"Hey, Ochaco, what are you looking at?" Mina had left her place from annoying Katsuki to her place beside the gravity hero. Her lips curled into a smile. "It looks like you made it as a pro, Ochaco! And you're in the top ten!"

"The less you learn about the future, the better," Katsuki stated. His face was calm, yet the way his eyebrows stitched together gave away to the tension he held on his shoulders. He was clearly uncomfortable with them being here, yet why remained a mystery.

Mina stuck her tongue out at him, causing his eye to twitch in annoyance. "Don't be such a buzz kill. Can't you see Ochaco is stressed enough just by being here?" she stated.

"Is there something you don't want me to know about the future?" Ochaco inquired suddenly, continuing to glance over the trophies. Apart of her burned for the answer, yet another part was absolutely terrified. _'What if we're not together in the future? He has things that belong to me though.'_ Her fist clenched. _'What if I'm not alive in this part of the future? An accident?'_

"The less you know, the less likely the future will be changed. If this Quirk allows you to remember everything you've encountered while going through time, then who's to say that knowing certain things won't change how your future is?"

"Well, Bakugou, that's just a possibility we'll have to deal with," Mina snapped. "It's not like we purposely decided to jump through time for the hell of it." As the pink haired girl rounded on her heels and began making her way towards him, her yellow eyes blinked and suddenly she found herself keeling over. "Ochaco, the rooms spinning like it was before!" she groaned. "It's making me dizzy."

Ochaco looked around, not seeing the familiar swirling of the walls or the floor melting away and panic gripped her. "Mina?" But as the gravity hero reached out to grab Mina's arm, the pink haired girl vanished much as Katsuki's had the very first time.

"What the hell?" Katsuki moved from his position in the kitchen, ignoring the whistle of the kettle on the stove. "Where the hell did Ashido go?"

"She likely went back to our own time, but I don't understand why I didn't get pulled with her," Ochaco stated, her fists clenching at her sides. "I don't understand why I didn't get pulled back with her. We came here at the same time, together, so shouldn't we have left together?"

The explosive hero had retreated back into the kitchen and turned the kettle off, cursing under his breath. "Great, pretty sure that woke him up," he muttered.

Robotically, Ochaco lifted her head. "Woke who up?" Her mind was in such a daze she could barely form the words. The exhaustion from everything was beginning to take hold of her once more, making her thoughts almost incoherent. But as Katsuki opened his mouth to answer, a small figure shuffled sleepily down the hallway toward them, rubbing his eyes while holding tightly onto an Uravity blanket.

"Auntie 'chaco?" the boy asked, his lips curling into a smile, the sleep suddenly vanishing from his eyes. He was no more than five and despite how small he was, he ran rather quickly toward her, his small arms wrapping around Ochaco's legs. "Uncle Kacchan said you wouldn't be home until tomorrow."

"Ehh!?" Frozen, the gravity hero looked to Katsuki for guidance. "Auntie 'chaco? Uncle Kacchan?"

Katsuki's cheeks flushed faintly and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "It's Izuku's son…"

"Did you just call Deku Izuku?!" Blinking in confusion and shock, Ochaco could only look back and forth between the small boy and Katsuki before the overwhelming amount of events and information became too much and she found herself suddenly toppling backwards as everything began to fade to black.

* * *

When Mina reappeared, she was standing in the hallway just outside the baths. Her golden eyes swept the area quickly, finding no sign of Ochaco. "Crap, what the hell happened?" she muttered, jumping in surprise when her phone, still nestled in her pocket, began to beep uncontrollably. She fished it out quickly, opening it up to see notifications for nine missed messages and five missed phone calls come through all at once from Kirishima. "I guess our phones didn't work in the future."

She brought up Kirishima's number and hit call, already making a run toward the elevators. When the redhead picked up, relief flooded her. "Eijiro, is Bakugou with you?"

"_Mina, where are you? We've been looking for you and Uraraka for almost two hours now!" _

"That kid appeared and sent us both to the future. Ochaco is still there. Where are you?"

"_We're at the school. We're briefing Aizawa on what happened."_

"I'm running there now," she announced and hung up. The run to the school was short, but painful for Mina, having discarded her slippers halfway through when she determined they were more of a hindrance than anything. Rocks dug at the bottoms of her feet as she ran, her lungs beginning to burn. When the school came into view she saw Katsuki, Aizawa, and Kirishima outside, the redhead already running toward her.

"Mina, what happened?" Kirishima scooped her up in his arms, lifting her off the ground when he noticed her bare feet. "Are you okay?"

Katsuki reached them second, his fists beginning to spark. "Where's Ochaco?"

"She's still in the future, she didn't come back with me," Mina said softly. "I don't know what happened. It came out of nowhere and—"

"Ashido, start at the beginning," Aizawa interrupted, his eyes heavy with sleep.

"Ochaco and I went to take a bath, when we got out that kid was there. He got upset over something and the next thing we know we're flung through time and," she paused, looking at the explosive blonde. "and the next thing we know we're in the future, in Bakugou's future apartment."

"Ochaco is with future me?" Katsuki asked, surprised. He stared speculatively at the acid hero, as though expecting her to suddenly announce that it was all some kind of twisted joke. "What happened?"

"She's fine, Bakugou. Your future self seemed to believe us about the time Quirk."

"I'm not worried about that," he spat. "But how the fuck did you come back without her?"

"I don't know!" she cried.

Kirishima put his arm up against Katsuki, giving him a stern look. "It's not her fault, Bakugou. If Mina came back, then so will Uraraka, we just need to give it a bit more time, alright?"

Aizawa scratched his chin as he watched the explosive array of emotions fly between the young adults. "I've never heard of a time Quirk with the capabilities of sending someone to the future. It almost seems unrealistic," he murmured. "In any case, we need to find out who this kid is and fast. We can't keep having people go through time."

"Suggestions?" Katsuki asked, almost sarcastically.

Ignoring him, Aizawa focused his attention on Mina. "When you reappeared, where were you?"

"I was back in the hallway, by the baths."

"Then for now, we set up camp and see if Uraraka returns sometime tonight," he announced. "Bakugou, you can stay, but Kirishima get Ashido back to the dorms."

"Right. Come on, Mina."

As the two retreated down the pathway, Kirishima carrying Mina on his back, Katsuki began to pace back and forth. "Are we going or what?"

"In just a second," Aizawa said. "I wanted to make sure they left before telling you this next part."

"Next part?"

"Since you and Uraraka first told me about this strange kid, I've done some research. Now, I could be completely wrong, but I think I may know who he is." He shifted slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. His dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. "About a year ago there had been some reports about strange occurrences near an old house out in Osaka. People reported seeing walls begin to distort, feeling nauseas or dizzy. The reports also stated that several witnesses saw a boy with black hair and blue eyes."

"You think it was the kid?"

"It's possible. There weren't any other reports I could find. It seems when the boy and his mother left Osaka, there wasn't anything to report anymore. As for where they ended up at, I can't really say."

Katsuki tilted his head up toward the sky and inhaled deeply. "So do you have a name for the damn brat, or what?"

"Shingo Einosuke. I'm waiting for Tsukauchi to get back to me, but it might not be until morning."

"Tch. Fucking figures," Katsuki spat, turning to leave. "We done here?"

"For now," Aizawa confirmed.

"Good. I'm going to wait for Ochaco."

But as Katsuki stepped forward, he felt an eerie feeling creep over him, his crimson hues sweeping forward along the path until they met with those cobalt eyes of Shingo.

* * *

A/N: Ahh, sorry for kind of an awkward ending to this chapter. It was starting to get long and I was running out of time to post it up, but I also didn't want to make you all wait another week for this chapter either. I might go back and edit it a tad if I get some free time, but until then, this is what I got. Hopefully you all are doing great 3 Thank you for the continued support for this story, it warms me greatly.


	4. Chapter 4 - Summer Rain

**Unfolding Time  
**_Chapter Four – Summer Rain_

_A/N: Just a head's up, I haven't gotten around to rereading through to correct any grammar mistakes just yet. I will do that tonight, I just have limited time to get this posted before a long day of work and wanted to get it up at least3_

* * *

Ochaco felt as though her head were spinning clear off her shoulders as she came to. Her eyes swept the apartment carefully, her stomach sinking in disappointment. As intriguing as it was to see her boyfriend's future self, it wasn't _her_ Katsuki or _her_ time. She was gleeful that Mina managed to make it back, or so she hoped, yet she couldn't exactly dislodge the sickening swirl in the pit of her stomach.

"Katsuki?" she inquired softly, sitting up. A hushed voice echoed through the apartment, much as it had the first time; light spilling into the hallway like a beacon. From her position on the couch, she could make out the explosive hero's voice, his tone strained, almost lonely. Her heart wrenched, filling her curiosity and she soon found herself tiptoeing toward the open door. Katsuki's shadow danced against the wall as he paced, his hand pulling through his spiky locks.

"I don't really know what to do here, Angel," he murmured, sighing heavily. "I know it doesn't make any sense."

Ochaco's body went rigid with a tingly chill. Katsuki was on the phone with her future self.

Shifting and heaving another sigh the blonde finally sat down, the faint squeak of his office chair reverberating in her ears. She didn't quite know why every little thing became so damn intriguing. Slowly she moved her head around the corner to catch a glimpse of him. Dark circles encased his crimson hues, stress and exhaustion evident. His fingers tapped silently against the edge of his desk as he pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder, his gaze focusing on the sleeping figure curled up on the small futon on the far side of the room.

Ochaco had completely forgotten the biggest cause to her fainting and upon seeing the small child she felt panicked. Izuku had a child? It was certainly obvious from the messy head of green curls, those freckles falling across his cheeks like stars. He was so innocent, so endearing, and yet so strange. When she thought of anyone of her friends, she had never imagined what their future would look like, whether they would have families. Perhaps because she didn't place much thought on her own future that the entire concept of glimpsing at it now was so terrifying.

Her lips curled into a soft smile as the boy shifted. She wondered whether or not her and Katsuki had ever talked about children. Hell, for all she knew they did have kids and they just weren't with Katsuki at the moment. Her stomach flipped and roiled with nausea. The idea of being a pro hero and having a family was something she had never merged into a singular thought and now that it roamed within the walls of her mind, she couldn't shake the appeal it had. What kind of family would they have? What kind of mother would she be? Was Katsuki someone who even wanted children?

Katsuki coughed, dragging her attention away from her thoughts. He leaned back in his chair, eyes now focused on the ceiling. "I don't know. Yeah, I know. Angel, I just want you home."

Somehow those words made tears well in her eyes. She could only imagine just how her Katsuki was handling things and more than anything she just wanted to throw her arms around him and never let go.

"Just come home soon," he said softly. "I love you too."

The way those words filtered into the air made Ochaco's heart sing. Somehow this version of Katsuki was so much more refined, his demeanor calmer, more loving. Is this what she could expect from her future?

As Katsuki set the phone down on the desk, he cleared his throat, his gaze lifting to meet Ochaco's. Her cheeks instantly flared red, caught in her embarrassment. She nervously scratched the back of her head as she slowly shuffled into the small office.

"Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop," she admitted, giving him a sheepish smile. "I came to and didn't see you, so…"

Katsuki watched her closely for a moment, his expression thoughtful. "How much did you hear?"

Ochaco shrugged, turning to look at the young boy. "Just the tail end of the conversation. I'm going to assume that you were talking to me about this whole situation. Well, your version of me, at least."

"Yeah. It's an…interesting situation."

"Interesting is an understatement," Ochaco stated. "It's not everyday you get to see your future splayed out before you, if this is in fact the future and not just some kind of delusion."

"What do you mean?"

Turning thoughtful, Ochaco made her way further into the office, clicking her tongue softly as she mulled over her thoughts. She came to stop just beside the window and looked out. "How can I really be sure that I actually travelled through time? You said so yourself, you don't have any memory of encountering that boy, right? Doesn't that seem odd?"

Katsuki shrugged. "Yes and no. Quirks that seem straightforward are often not. There's likely something else going on with this Quirk than just simple time travel."

"It just doesn't make much sense." She sighed softly, closing her eyes. "When my version of you came back from the past, he remembered everything happening, yet I don't recall ever meeting him that night, let alone giving him an origami butterfly that I made." When her gaze lifted and locked onto his, she couldn't help but drink in that beautiful color. They were as vibrant as ever.

"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. You're resourceful, Ochaco."

"Yeah, well, let's just hope that all this time travel doesn't end up messing something up," she muttered, turning away from the window. "How long was I out anyway?"

"An hour, maybe a bit longer." Katsuki broke his gaze away, inhaling softly. "I was surprised when you fainted, honestly."

Ochaco motioned toward the sleeping child. "Can you blame me? It's kind of an overload of information to learn one of your best friends has a kid."

"In the future," he stated. "It doesn't come to you as that big of a surprise that people you know would have families."

"Do we have a family?" Almost immediately after the words left her mouth she frantically waved her hands and shook her head. "Sorry, forget that! The less I know, the better, right?"

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Follow me." As he got up, he lightly brushed past her and headed out into the hallway, glancing back. "I don't want to wake Jun. It was difficult to get him to fall asleep again."

"Jun?" Ochaco blinked, letting the name run off her tongue. _I wonder who Deku ended up marrying?_ She followed silently, her lips curling softly as she watched the boy stir in his sleep once more. They entered out into the main room and toward the sliding door leading out onto the balcony. The night air was warm and supple, filled with the smell of the city and rain brimming on the horizon.

As Katsuki cracked the door, he watched as Ochaco leaned against the railing, her auburn eyes sparkling against the backdrop of lights. "I know you don't want to tell me too much about the future, but isn't there anything else you can tell me?"

"I already told you that we were together and that Izuku has a kid," Katsuki stated firmly. "It's too risky to say anything more."

Puffing out her cheeks in frustration, the gravity hero kept her gaze forward. "This whole situation kind of sucks."

"Depends on how you look at it."

Ochaco quirked an eyebrow up, glancing at him from the side as he moved to join her by the railing. "Do you really think things could change?"

"It's possible." He sighed heavily, a calloused hand running through his hair. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you about your future, anyway. Your future self should be the one to decide what you know and don't know, not me."

"I guess that seems fair," Ochaco huffed. "If I were standing in front of my past self, there's a lot I wouldn't want to say."

"Ochaco, you have a good life. Can you trust me when I say that?"

The gravity hero turned to look at him, his crimson hues boring into her like fire. "I trust you, I just don't trust myself. I never really stopped to think about the future or what I would do beyond becoming a pro hero."

"You always did wear your emotions," Katsuki murmured, chuckling. "That doesn't change, by the way. It's still a very prominent trait you possess."

"Is that a good thing?"

"You make it work. There's nothing about you that I would change."

With reddened cheeks, Ochaco could only gawk at him in silence. Her mind was a complete mess. All she could think about was the future, how her life apparently was. Everything seemed so peaceful, so perfect, yet was it really? Was Katsuki being truthful when he said she had a good life?

"How old are you?"

Katsuki blinked, taken off guard. Of all the things he expected her to ask, his age was not one of them, but he suspected that it wasn't that far off from what he believed her array of questions would be. His age would give her exactly what she needed to see just how far she had been flung through time. "Twenty-eight."

"Twenty-eight," she repeated softly. Slowly her honeyed eyes narrowed, her expression warm and thoughtful. "Are you happy Katsuki?"

"I couldn't have asked for a better life, Ochaco."

Exhaling suddenly, she pushed herself from the railing and straightened her back, her arms rising up in a long stretch. "Then I guess it's settled. Maybe the future isn't quite so bad."

"Not sure why you would think it would be."

When she looked at him, her smile widened. "Do you really think that if you were sent into the future and met you're boyfriend's future self who was very vague on details, that you would feel entirely secure?"

"Yeah, yeah… I fucking get it, Angel." Katsuki couldn't help but return her smile. "You just need to have a bit more trust in your 'boyfriends' future self." As he put his fingers up to make air quotes, Ochaco caught sight of the metal band encasing his left ring finger. She hadn't paid much attention before, but now that she saw that simple band, her heart felt as though it had become encased by pure warmth. But as the feeling enveloped her, Ochaco's surroundings began to blur, creating a wave of nausea to fall over her. Her smile faded, her eyes narrowing as she looked around.

"Are you okay?"

"I think I'm about to go back," she said. "Everything is beginning to shift and move."

Katsuki stood straighter, watching her carefully. "Stay safe, Ochaco." His words echoed and floated through her mind as she felt her surroundings melt and suddenly she was plunged into darkness for the briefest moment before the familiar hallway of dorms popped up around her. She breathed heavily, daring herself to lean against the wall when everything finally settled, allowing her stomach to calm itself before she dared to move.

There wasn't any sign of Mina and the primary lights were still off, much to her relief. With luck she hadn't missed out on too much in her own time. She had no doubt that Katsuki would be looking for her and if Mina had come back it was likely he already knew where she had gone.

Now she just had to find him.

* * *

Aizawa's hair sprang up the moment his Quirk activated. He watched the small boy carefully, assessing each movement he made as he wept before Katsuki. The explosive blonde was poised for a fight that he already knew wouldn't happen yet it didn't stop him from being completely on guard.

"I didn't mean to send her through time again," Shingo sobbed, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. "I…I'm sorry!"

Katsuki's crimson hues narrowed, his fist clenching and sparking. "Can you bring her back?"

Shingo raised his head to look at the older boy and sniffled as he shook his head. "I don't know how. My Quirk eventually wears off and everyone I send through time returns."

"Damnit. How long does it take to wear off?"

"I don't know!"

This kid knew absolutely nothing helpful about his Quirk. Though despite not knowing the exact amount of time, he at least knew that Ochaco would return. _This kid better fucking pray Ochaco comes back soon._

Katsuki slowly approached the boy and knelt down, eyeing him carefully. With Aizawa's erasure active, there wasn't a chance the boy could send him hurling through time. "Oi, why are you always around us? Every time we fucking see you you're around Ochaco."

Shingo sniffled again, the sound wet and unpleasant. "That girl…she…she's like my sister."

"Hah…?"

"She's warm and happy, just like how my sister used to be."

"Used to be?" Aizawa inquired. His eyes had progressively become more bloodshot as the seconds passed.

"She got sick and…and…" Shingo's voice trailed, though it was quite clear that his sister was no longer among the living. "She was my best friend."

"And what of your mother?"

A fresh wave of tears welled up in Shingo's eyes and he had managed to blubber something incoherent that neither of the men could quite understand.

"Bakugou, wait for Uraraka to return. I'll handle the boy for now," Aizawa stated.

As much as Katsuki wanted to stay and demand answers, he also wanted to make sure he was there when Ochaco returned. Begrudgingly he rushed down the pathway toward the dorms, his crimson hues glancing over at the boy and narrowing before he disappeared from sight from the curving pathway.

* * *

More than anything Ochaco wanted to sleep as she leaned up against the wall, her normally bright eyes heavy with exhaustion and stress. Katsuki hadn't been in his dorm, though she somewhat suspected as much with her being gone. Still, even with the sinking suspicion, it still gave her an opportunity to knock on Kirishima's door and happily discover that Mina did in fact make it back safely and learn about what had transpired here during her time in the future.

"Ochaco, are you sure you don't want me to wait with you?" Mina had inquired, biting her lower lip. "It's really no trouble."

The gravity hero simply waved her hand dismissively. "It'll be fine. Kirishima texted Katsuki, so I'm sure that he'll be here in no time. Besides, with how tired I am I might just end up zonking out before he even gets here."

"Not in…a million…fucking years," Katsuki spat, breathless. Sweat beaded down his face as he stood leaned up against the wall, looking more exhausted than anyone there.

Mina cupped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, unlike Kirishima who simply stood there smirking. "That was fast, Bakugou. Kirishima literally just texted you a couple of minutes ago. Did you run here?"

"Damn straight I did." As the blonde straightened up, his breath beginning to return, he ignored the hysterics of the duo and made a straight shot for Ochaco and pulled her into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just really tired," Ochaco murmured, her lips curling into a sleepy smile. "Is everything okay on this end?"

Katsuki glanced at Kirishima and Mina, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as the two simply gawked at them. "Yeah, let's just go somewhere less crowded to talk," he said pointedly. He gently ushered the gravity hero toward his dorm, unlocking the door and motioning her in, ignoring Mina's fit of giggles. They had been dating for a while now, so why the acid hero still became so giddy seeing them together remained a mystery.

"G'night, Ochaco!" Mina called, right as the door slid shut. Ochaco had called back, unsure if her voice had carried through, but at that moment she didn't care. She was just happy to be at home in her own time with her own Katsuki. She flopped onto the bed with a hefty sigh, her eyes beginning to close as she inhaled the spiced scent of the blanket.

"So, how was future me?" Katsuki inquired, falling beside her and snaking his arm around her waist. He watched her carefully, his lips tugging into an involuntary smirk at her childlike demeanor she seemed to take on in her tired state of mind.

Ochaco opened one eye to peek at him. "You still cuss a lot," she mumbled, her throat vibrating with a small giggle. "Not surprising though. Outside of how you acted, your future self didn't tell me much."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." She twisted herself so that she now faced him, curling into his embrace further. "You were worried about me knowing too much about the future, like knowing would somehow change things."

"Tch."

Ochaco smirked suddenly, her eyes fixated on his pout. "I did find out a few things though that were a bit intriguing."

"Like me being the Number One Hero?" he asked, hopeful.

"Sadly, I didn't find that out," she said, sticking her tongue out. "In the future you call Deku by his first name and that you babysit his son."

Katsuki's eyes widened, his expression bewildered. "No fucking way. Not a chance in hell do I become some fucking babysitter."

Shrugging, she nuzzled his neck and sighed. "I don't know the exact circumstances, but Deku's son was there and you were watching him."

"Fucking nerd," he muttered, yet his tone was flat, without malice, tinged with amusement as the thought ran through his mind. "Well, while you were in the future, that boy showed up again."

"What happened?"

"Luckily Aizawa was there, so no one got flung through time. The kid said you reminded him of his sister. Guess that's why he's been around so much," he said, sinking his nose into her hair. It smelled like her shampoo, but slightly different, like it had picked up another scent. It wasn't bad by any means, but he couldn't help wonder if it was a scent that laced his future home.

"Is the kid still with Aizawa?"

"As far as I know. I left to come find you, which I should probably tell him that you did manage to make it back, but that can just wait till morning."

Ochaco gnawed on her lower lip as her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. "Do you think he'll be okay? Did you find out anything more about him?"

"Aizawa can handle a brat," Katsuki said. "He does just fine with Eri. The only thing of use we found out was his name, Shingo Einosuke."

"I wonder where he first saw me that reminded him of his sister," she mused softly against him, her breath cascading down her boyfriends collarbone, making him shift closer to her in response. But as Katsuki mulled around in his mind, Ochaco slowly tilted her chin up, her honeyed eyes glowing in the soft light of the room as she became lost in her own thoughts. "Hey, Katsuki…"

"Yeah, Angel?"

"You haven't asked me whether or not you and I are still together in the future."

"Why would I need fucking to ask that?"

Frowning, Ochaco glared up at him. "You don't want to know whether or not we're still together in the future?"

It was Katsuki's time to smirk, his crimson hues lacing with mischief. "Ochaco, I don't need to ask because I already _know_ that we're still together in the future." He lightly pressed his lips to the top of her forehead. "There's nothing in this world that is going to make me leave your side."

"Katsuki, I love you…"

"I love you too, Angel. Now sleep, okay? You're fucking exhausted. We can talk about it more in the morning."

* * *

Morning came in a rush and it was when the first specks of sunlight filtered through the window that Ochaco realized how royally screwed she was. Despite the sheer exhaustion assaulting every fiber of her being, sleep eluded her in each passing second of the clock until eventually she had slipped free of Katsuki's embrace and turned on the laptop he kept on his desk. She thought maybe if she did a bit of research about time Quirk's, that maybe it would help her understand a bit better and feel somewhat at ease.

What was worse, was Katsuki now shifted on the bed, annoyance sprinkled over his face as he reached for his alarm clock to shut it off. In his reach toward it, his eyes shot open, realizing he was alone in the bed. When his gaze shifted up to where she sat in the desk, taking note of the circles beneath her eyes having gotten darker, he glared.

"Angel, did you sleep at all?"

Ochaco rubbed the pad of her index finger as she avoided eye contact. "Yeah, I just couldn't seem to fall asleep."

Sighing, Katsuki swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood slowly, stretching each limb carefully to shake away the tiredness. When he felt his muscles loosen enough to walk comfortably, he approached Ochaco from behind and pulled her into an embrace while his lips and nose nuzzled lovingly at her neck. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he mumbled. "I could have stayed up with you or helped you become so damn exhausted that you wouldn't have a choice but to pass out."

Ochaco's cheeks lit up pink at his words and leaned into him. "There wasn't a point in having us both be dead tired," she stated.

"Well, since you look like something straight out of a damn zombie movie, stay here for the day and rest."

"What about class...?"

"Fuck class." Katsuki spun her around in the chair so that she faced him, his crimson hues locking onto her honeyed ones. "You're more important. You're stressed, exhausted, and looking at you being like this is making me fucking nervous." When his hand reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb lightly tracing the darkness beneath her eyes, she leaned into him and sighed. "Please, Angel, just stay in my room today and get some damn rest."

"I'll try," she relented. "No guarantees."

"There better be guarantees. If you're not asleep by the time I come to check on you during lunch, I'm skipping the rest of my classes and wearing out every bit of fucking energy you have left, got it?"

"Now you're just tempting me."

The explosive blonde's mouth upturned, his mischievous smirk returning from last night. "As if you're so innocent."

Ochaco couldn't help but laugh, even if it wasn't as jovial as usual. "Go to class, already. I promise I will stay here and sleep."

"Good girl," he whispered and nipped at her ear before pulling away to get ready.

* * *

Soon after Katsuki left, Ochaco slumped down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. She was heavily torn between just closing her eyes and trying to lose herself to a dreamless sleep or to get a snack knowing that her stomach would be waking her shortly to remind her of her hunger. After a moment of internal debate, she decided to get up to eat first.

"Katsuki is going to kill me," she muttered, scratching the back of her head. He would be returning to the dorms at lunchtime to check on her and she knew he would keep his word about skipping class if she wasn't asleep. Unfortunately it felt as though the second her mind and body began to lull off, something dark and nagging would lurch from the back of her mind and cause a hit of adrenaline to race through her, staving off rest.

So now her only solution was to eat something and hope that maybe a mini food coma would be the answer to her current problem.

The empty halls of the dorms were eerily reminiscent to when she had her accident during her first year, yet the only difference now was Katsuki wasn't skipping class waiting to see her. A smile tugged at her lips. They had come a long way since they began high school and she sometimes forgot just how long a road they already travelled and how much more they still had to go. Her peek into the future had assured her of that.

Ochaco's reverie was cut short when she got off the elevator and made her way to the kitchen, stopping short when she saw a small figure huddled up on one of the kitchen chairs. She immediately recognized the figure as the boy and her stomach flipped uncomfortably.

She kept herself at a distance, lingering on the kitchen's entryway and cleared her throat to garner his attention. When those startling cobalt eyes looked up, her throat hitched. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his cheeks flushed a light pink. Swallowing her anxiety down, Ochaco offered him a smile. "Your name is Shingo, right?"

He nodded, but remained quiet and unmoving.

_He doesn't look so well. Is he sick?_ she inquired mentally. "Are you okay?"

This time Shingo shook his head no.

"You should be with Aizawa, shouldn't you?"

"Slipping away has always been easy," Shingo finally said. He ducked his head against his knees. "I wanted to tell you I was sorry."

"Well, as much as I appreciate that, you shouldn't be wandering around the halls," she chided. "You've caused quite a bit of trouble."

"I know. I didn't mean to."

Ochaco relented and moved forward. She couldn't be entirely certain that his Quirk had a particular proximity, but it wasn't like she was super far from him anyway. If he did decide to use his Quirk, it might not matter where she stood. She came over and sat beside him, her hand reaching out and pressing against his forehead. "Just as I thought, you're running a bit of a fever." Frowning, she begins to get up from her seat, stopping when the boy reaches up for her hand.

"Where are you going?" he asks weakly, those blue eyes becoming large with panic. "Please don't leave."

Ochaco placed her palm over his hand and smiled, careful to keep one finger up to avoid activating her Quirk. "It's okay, I'm just going to get Aizawa. If you're running a fever we need to get you some medicine."

"Just stay here, big sister!"

Shingo's words caught Ochaco off guard, remembering what Katsuki said about her reminding the boy of his sister. Her auburn hair fell over her eyes as her stomach wavered uneasily, the floor beneath her beginning to shift. When she lifted her gaze back up to him, she gave his hand a squeeze. "It's okay, Shingo. I'm not going anywhere, okay? You need to relax, you're starting to activate your Quirk."

"I can't control it!" he cried, lunging forward. His tiny arms wrapped around her as tears welled in his panic stricken eyes and he clung to Ochaco tightly. "I'm so sorry! Please don't be bad at me, big sister!"

_Damnit, not again! _The walls melted and merged, falling to the floor in a sickly design until Ochaco and Shingo's vision was obscured by darkness. Trying hard to ease the growing nausea, the gravity hero squeezed her eyes shut until she felt solid ground beneath her feet once more. To her surprise, she found herself back inside a rather familiar apartment.

"Shingo, are you okay?" she asked softly after regaining her composure. The boy was slumped against her, unmoving; his cheeks flushed a deeper color. When Ochaco raised her hand to his forehead again, she bit her lower lip. His fever had spiked drastically, likely from the use of his Quirk. "This isn't good…" Her gaze swept the darkened apartment, finding no trace of light coming from the hallway or hushed voices like the first time. "Katsuki, are you home?" she called, hopeful for a response. She didn't have the slightest idea what to do about Shingo's fever.

She picked the boy up easily in her arms, cradling him close as she brought him to the couch and placed him down gently. Silence crept through the air around her and she felt herself becoming slightly panicked. There was no telling if Shingo had brought them to when she had met Katsuki's future self. For all she knew it could be months or years prior to having met him.

However, as she made her way past the kitchen and toward the hallway, her attention fell to three coffee mugs sitting on the counter, left exactly where they had been placed when her and Mina came through the first time. That was too much to be a coincidence, right? Maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but it was the only thing she could see that tied her to any sense of a timeline.

She peeked her head into Katsuki's office, finding the lights off and the room empty. Moving on, she found herself stopping in front of the bedroom door, her hand hesitating on the handle. What if he was home but just sleeping? Swallowing hard, she forced herself to open the door, letting it swing wide, revealing the large bedroom, which disappointedly was empty too.

"Damnit! Why couldn't he be here?" Ochaco muttered. Katsuki watched Izuku's son, so it was likely he had some kind of idea of what to do when a young child had a fever, right?

Ochaco returned to the living room where she had left Shingo and sunk down on the couch beside him. On the back of the couch was the familiar blanket she had seen the first time and quickly she grabbed it and bundled it around the boy's small figure. He was out cold.

Her entire body felt weighted and her mind was becoming more sluggish with each passing second. At this rate she felt that the mixture of exhaustion and panic running through her would start to make her delirious. Hell, maybe she was hallucinating right now or having a very vivid dream?

With a soft sigh, Ochaco scooped the boy up and brought him in close to her, her vision becoming hazy. It was all too much to handle in that moment. Her body knew this very well and had begun to shut itself down, forcing the gravity hero to slip into an uncomfortable and dreamless sleep while she held the sleeping boy close to her.

_Why didn't I just stay in bed? _she thought grudgingly before becoming completely taken over by sleep.

* * *

When Ochaco woke, she couldn't help but jump in surprise as two sets of eyes stared her down, one a striking crimson, the other the color of honey and chocolate. It took her a moment to realize that the woman standing before Katsuki was in fact…herself. The woman smiled down at her, idly flipping her long auburn locks over her shoulder.

"You've been asleep for awhile now," the older Ochaco stated softly. "I saw you start to stir awake a few minutes ago." Katsuki shifted from his place near the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared suspiciously at the younger gravity hero.

Rubbing her eyes of sleep, Ochaco glanced down to see Shingo still curled up beside her. Her palm pressed against his forehead, relieved to feel the heat from his fever had dissipated significantly. "I'm sorry to intrude on you again," she murmured.

The older heroes exchanged looks before the gravity hero looked back on her younger self. "What do you mean again?"

Ochaco froze, blinking in confusion. Maybe she had arrived before her future self had left for her mission? Rubbing the pads of her fingers, her gaze fell to the floor. "Well, this just became incredibly awkward."

"What exactly is going on?" Katsuki inquired, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, it's a little complicated," Ochaco stated, watching as Shingo stirred slightly. "This boy has a time Quirk, though he can't really control it." She didn't have the faintest idea whether or not they believed her. Katsuki had the first time she had come through, which had been more than a little surprising.

Her older self clicked her tongue, turning thoughtful. "So you were sent from your time?"

"Yeah. I was sent here literally about a day ago," Ochaco stated, laughing nervously. "But I guess me being here now is before I came through, seeing as how Katsuki doesn't remember me being here. He was watching Deku's son and you," she motioned to her older self, "were on a mission or something, so you weren't here."

The adult hero pursed her lips, her auburn gaze lifting to meet her husband's. "Katsuki?"

The blonde shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't know what the fuck's going on."

"Well, this is quite interesting. We just got back from dropping off Izuku's son after Katsuki got me from the airport."

Ochaco blinked again, her confusion extremely evident. "Airport?"

"Yeah, I got back from my mission earlier. So either this is one hell of a coincidence or something is going on."

_How is Katsuki not able to remember? _Ochaco felt her stomach churn uneasily. Then again, she didn't exactly remember seeing Katsuki in her past during the festival. In fact she distinctly remembered waiting by the fountain crying her eyes out until her parents finally found her. She had zero recollection of her boyfriend having been there, despite him having come back with an origami butterfly she had evidently given him.

"My head hurts," she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. She filled the two in on Shingo's Quirk, what little was known about it, and how her and Katsuki had both managed to leap through time each time Shingo had become overwhelmed or upset.

"This vaguely sounds familiar," Katsuki stated, his eyes narrowing at the boy. "A few years back we ran into some asshole who had a time Quirk. He didn't exactly manage to send us through time, but he managed to slip away by disappearing."

The older Ochaco nodded. "We found out later that he was able to elude capture because of how quickly he could jump to another time. Eventually he was caught."

"Do you think it was Shingo?"

"Hard to say. Anyone who dealt directly with him had more than a few hazy memories."

The pulsing in the young gravity hero's head worsened. This entire situation was becoming beyond confusing to her. "So, correct me if I'm wrong…but what I'm gathering from this whole thing is that you two dealt with someone with a time Quirk, but have fuzzy memories dealing with him so you can't actually confirm what his name is?" Was it even possible that the person they met was actually Shingo's future self? Even so, it didn't exactly explain people's memories becoming obscured. Her and Katsuki had both been sent through time, yet their memories remained perfectly in tact, so why did their future and past selves have absolutely no memory of anything while their present selves did?

"Are you okay?" Katsuki inquired, breaking Ochaco from her thoughts. "You think any harder and you're likely going to pass the fuck out."

"At this rate, I just might. This entire situation is confusing and it's becoming more difficult to piece together."

With a loud, flustered sigh, the older Ochaco held her hands up. "Okay, I think I might know something that will help us," she announced. "We still have the case file at our agency. I never really looked at it again once the guy was caught. I do remember updating the file once he was caught, I just can't actually recall many details right now. But if we get that file, we can actually see if our time Quirk perpetrator is the same as this young boy here—Shingo, you said his name was?"

"Were you two the ones to actually bring him for an arrest?"

"No, Izuku was. He was working with us on the case. He ended up finding him before us and made the arrest."

Ochaco tapped her chin. "Would it be possible to talk to him and see what he remembers?"

"I will," Katsuki stated. "The less you know about the future, the better."

"You know, you said the same thing to me the first time I came here," Ochaco muttered, which stirred up an amused laugh from her older self. "Anyway, you should probably find out what you can quickly. Shingo's Quirk doesn't last long and as I said before he has no control over it."

"Alright, Katsuki if you want to go grab the file and see if you can talk to Izuku, I'll stay here."

Katsuki's brows knitted together, worry straining his features. "The kid can't control his power. What if he activates and somehow pulls you through time."

"Don't worry so much," she assured, smiling. "I'll be alright, I promise."

After watching the display of affection the explosion blonde planted on her future self's lips, Ochaco found herself turning beat red, even after Katsuki had left the apartment to fulfill his duty. Despite it literally being herself, it still felt absolutely awkward to be watching. She forced her gaze toward the bookshelves, becoming quite uncertain about what to say now that she was practically alone with herself.

"I'm surprised you're not asking me a barrage of questions right now. If I was standing before my future self, I would want to know everything."

"Believe me, there's a lot I want to ask, I'm just…" Ochaco trailed off, her eyes becoming dull. "The future scares me, to be honest." Her attention fell back to her older self as she stood and extended her hand out.

"Come with me," she said, smiling. "I think it's better for us to talk while in a setting that's a bit more comfortable."

Ochaco had no idea what that meant exactly, but she figured she was about to find out as she tentatively took her own hand and was led out to the balcony. The sun was peaking out, yet storm clouds were beginning to roll in and the sweet scent of cherry blossoms and rain permeated the air. A wave of calm fell over the gravity hero, finding herself unable to look away from the breathtaking view that was spread out before them.

Her older self pressed her fingertips together and slowly began to lift into the air before turning and extending her hand out to her younger self. "Take my hand. If you think this view is nice, just wait until you're floating above all of it."

"Isn't that risky?" Yet despite her stomach lurching, she took the extended hand and immediately began to float as well.

"We're a lot stronger than we ever gave ourselves credit for when we were in school. Yes, I still get nauseous if I'm in the air for too long or reach my weight limit too quickly, but if I'm just floating, doing nothing, I can float up here for hours if I want."

Ochaco gawked, her eyes widening. "_Hours_? How? I can barely stay in the air for more than thirty minutes without feeling like I'm going to hurl."

"I don't want to tell you too much, but believe me, limits get pushed and you find it in you to become a truly remarkable hero. The future isn't so glum, so stop worrying already." When the apartment building below them became smaller and smaller, the older gravity hero lifted them up into the sky until the entire city was laid out before them like a blanket littered with diamonds. Sunlight caught windowpanes, bouncing lights off as the sun began to sink into the horizon just below the clouds coming in with the promise of rain.

Ochaco couldn't help but gasp. She had never floated herself this high before, yet here her future self was doing it so effortlessly, managing to float both of them without much strain. "This is…amazing."

"Isn't it? Sometimes I'll just float up here when I need to think or just want to be alone. Looking at the city spread out before me has a way of putting things in perspective."

The low grumble of thunder spread overhead, droplets beginning to fall. Ochaco held her free hand out, mesmerized by the slight chill eliciting around her body, her lungs filling with the sweetness of summer rain. When the water fell harder around them, neither seemed to care. The pour of rain over the city molded the scenery into something entirely different and the young gravity hero could see the appeal of spending hours just floating, despite becoming soaked by the weather. It was as though every doubt, every trace of anxiety fell away from her and lifted her spirits to an entirely new height.

They spent the next hour in content silence, lost in their own thoughts until a distinct call broke them out of their meditative state. The two Ochaco's turned themselves in the air, their eyes falling to the apartment where they could barely make out Katsuki's figure.

"I guess it's time to head back inside," the older hero murmured with a soft laugh. "Katsuki is going to be mad and go on about how reckless it is to be floating in the rain."

"Most likely," Ochaco agreed, offering up her own laugh. "It's worth it though." As they floated back down toward the building, she took one last longing gaze at the city. "You weren't wrong about this view putting things into perspective."

When their feet hit solid ground, Katsuki was standing in the doorway, fuming, his fists sparking. "What the hell are you two doing? It's fucking raining!"

The future Ochaco bounded over to him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself up to kiss him on the cheek. "We're aware," she sang before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Ack! Ochaco, you're getting me wet! Stop it!" he hissed, trying to peel his rain soaked wife from him. "You're insufferable."

"Ha, you wish. Insufferable or not, I'm still one of the greatest things in your life." She poked his cheek, grinning widely.

The younger Ochaco couldn't help but watch the two, her heart fluttering. They were heroes, adults, and still very much in love. It was the image of perfection, of soft reassurance that maybe she worried for nothing. But as the scene unfolded around her, her gaze fell to Shingo looking out the window at them, his expression soft and sad, undoubtedly reeling from his own troubles in life, whatever they may be.

"Shingo, are you alright?" Ochaco asked as she moved toward the door and peeked her head inside the apartment. She was careful to stay just outside as to avoid tracking water in, unlike her older self who trotted past her and across the living room, ignoring Katsuki's chastising about getting the carpet wet.

When the boy's eyes lit up at the sound of her voice, she couldn't help but see those cobalt eyes rim with tears. Carefully she moved toward him, extending her hand to him. Immediately he reached for her, but just as their hands met, the room began to spin in an all too familiar fashion.

"Shingo, are you taking us back to our time?" Ochaco inquired, her head tilting. Everything felt different this time. Her stomach didn't churn, her body felt weightless and tingled. "I thought you couldn't control your Quirk?"

"I can't, when I'm stressed," he corrected.

"Are you two okay?" Katsuki called, noticing the strange display unfolding in his living room.

"Stay back," Ochaco warned. "If you get too close you might get pulled through time with us."

The older gravity hero emerged from the hallway, a towel draped over her shoulders. "You're going back?" Her auburn eyes lit up as she raced to the kitchen table, her hand nabbing onto a thick folder. "Take this!" she said, tossing it toward her younger self, who clumsily caught it. "I hope it helps!"

"Thank you," Ochaco whispered, just as her future fell from her sight. Within moments, the familiar kitchen of the dorms filled in around them and she found herself standing there alone with only the folder in her hands. Shingo was nowhere in sight. Even the warmth from his small hand had disappeared from her palm.

"Ochaco?"

Whirling in surprise, the gravity hero yelped, hugging the folder tightly against her chest. "Katsuki, you scared me! Don't sneak up on me."

The explosive blonde quirked an eyebrow up, his crimson hues looking her up and down. "Why the fuck are you soaking wet?" He was entirely unfettered by the fact he had scared his girlfriend and was more concerned by the odd display before him. "What's going on?"

Ochaco scratched her cheek and smiled nervously. "Well, I came into the kitchen to get a snack and, uh…well, Shingo was here."

A spark blasted off from Katsuki's palm. "What?"

"It's okay! Nothing bad happened. I…got sent to the future again," she said softly, averting her eyes. "I got to meet my future self." Before she knew it, Katsuki had crossed the distance between them, his arms flying around her and crushing her to him, his face falling to the crook of her neck. "Katsuki…?"

"I'm going to kill that fucking brat."

Returning his overly protective embrace, Ochaco let her honeyed eyes close as tears welled in her eyes. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I promise you, everything is alright." As she pushed herself from him, she held up the folder. "Our future selves gave me something that may help us with Shingo."

Katsuki eyed the folder briefly, his hand raising to wipe away the tears mingling with the rain on his girlfriends cheeks. "First, let's get you dried off. You're going to get sick if you stay like this."

As they left to go back to Katsuki's room, neither of them were aware of Shingo standing at the end of the hallway watching them, his own eyes spilling over with tears.

* * *

A/N: Wooo, long chapter! Okay, so before any of you throw things at me, I am very well aware that the whole time thing might be confusing to some. Not all the details have been shed on Shingo's power, so it's okay to be confused. After all, Ochaco and Katsuki aren't even entirely sure what's up with his quirk :p

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thank you so much for the support, it warms my heart greatly. I hope everyone is having good holidays! I will try my best to get the next chapter up by New Year's, though I won't make any promises.

On an entirely random note, I will be making a twitter account for my writing soon. A few people have wanted a way to actually be able to talk or get updates about my writing without having to sent dm's so I will probably try and get that up and going if anyone is interested (will post link in profile when it's up and a link with the next chapter whenever I get that up.) If you have a twitter and you want me to follow, gimme them links, I like to support other fellow writers 3


	5. Chapter 5 - Mounting Confusion

**Unfolding Time  
**_Chapter Five – Mounting Confusion_

_A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY LOVES! I've been struggling bad with depression, so my motivation has been a bit difficult to spark (hah, see what I did there?) I will do my best to get the next chapter up sooner! Thank you for your continued support and patience, it means the world to me right now, you have no idea. _

_Also, a quick update. Those who are following the story Shrunken I am sorry it's taking some time for the last chapter to be posted. I'm co-writing it with a friend who has a lot of severe medical conditions at the moment. She hasn't been feeling super well, so she hasn't had too much energy to sit with me to complete the final chapter. It will be done, I just don't have a time frame just yet._

* * *

The room was silent excluding the blow dryer Katsuki used on Ochaco's damp hair. She had changed from her wet clothes and into one of her boyfriend's t-shirts, her skin still tingling from the cold the rain had bore into her. It almost felt like a dream, having actually spoken to her future self, to have witnessed a snippet of what she could do with her Quirk in the future. She could only imagine how different her combat style was.

When Katsuki turned the blow dryer off and set it aside, Ochaco leaned back into him, cocking her head to meet his crimson hues. "I feel exhausted," she murmured, laughing humorlessly "Yet I don't know if I can actually sleep."

"I know what you mean." Katsuki wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her to him before dropping his head to the nook of her neck. "That kid is becoming a lot of fucking trouble."

"People who need help often aren't easy to deal with."

"You think he needs help?"

Ochaco quirked a brow up at him, eyeing him speculatively. "He's a child who can't control his Quirk, is clearly in distress, and his guardian is nowhere to be found when we see him. Yeah, I would say that qualifies as someone needing help, Katsuki."

"Be gentle with me," he teased dryly. "It's been a rough night. Do you know how worried I was when I found out that kid took you to the damn future again?"

"I have a pretty good idea," she snapped. "It's not like I had witnessed you disappearing into time."

A brief, icy silence drifted between them, though the explosive hero immediately pulled Ochaco in as close as he could get her. "I'm sorry, Angel," he mumbled. "I wasn't trying to start a fight. We're both tired as hell and stressed."

Ochaco nuzzled into him, inhaling his scent and letting it wash over her. "We need to figure something out—and soon." She pulled away from Katsuki long enough to grab the file and plop it into her lap, staring at it as though it were the most dangerous thing on the planet. "I'm kinda afraid to open it."

Katsuki couldn't blame her. There were a lot of unknowns involving the situation they were in and the file wasn't a guarantee of holding anything of use and was likely the worst part. They both had placed hope that some kind of solution would be presented, that they would have an idea of where to go from here, but there was always that chance that they would be back at square one.

"Sitting here doing nothing won't do us any good," he said, snatching the file from her. It was light, maybe a few pages in it.

Ochaco watched as he opened it, revealing a neatly printed dossier with a photo of a young man paperclipped to the front. The boy was a mirror image of Shingo, from the black hair and piercing cobalt blue eyes. It made her stomach flip and her mouth to pinch into a stern line. "It's him." She took the photo off the dossier and examined it closer, observing how unhappy Shingo looked, how worn he looked. "He hasn't had an easy life," she said softly. "It looks like he's been fighting to survive all his life."

"Like someone who needs saving?" Katsuki stated, reflecting her earlier words.

Ochaco's lips curled into a faint smile and set the photo down to grab the dossier. "Yes, exactly. Now the question is which version of us met Shingo first? My future self said that they had had a run in with him, yet they said their memories of the incident, and anyone else's for that matter, became hazy." Her hands scanned over the document, frowning once more. "There's barely anything to this."

Plucking it from her grasp, Katsuki peered at it, his crimson hues landing on every word. "There's an address and it's not far from the school. It was recorded at his last seen location before he disappeared."

"Yeah, but how do we know that address is even relevant right now? This file is from the future, Shingo might now have any ties to it until later."

"One way to find out." Dropping the file Katsuki sat up abruptly and wrapped both his arms around Ochaco, causing her to squeak in surprise, before planting a sudden kiss on her cheek. It was becoming more apparent of the stress that was weighing on her shoulders, how the twinkling determination became foggy with uncertainty, how her body clung to tension. It made him feel uneasy knowing there was little he could do to sway her mind from the darkening situation.

"Katsuki!" she yelped, wiggling in his clutches until she was able to turn up to face him, her honeyed eyes ablaze with annoyance and question. "What's gotten into you?"

Grinning, the explosive hero merely poked her sides, causing her to squirm again. He watched as her cheeks puffed out, fighting back the laughter that was on the verge of spilling over. Ochaco hated to be tickled and it was a quick way to agitate her, yet it became clear it was also proving to be a good distraction.

He reached up to her wrists, holding them away from him so she couldn't activate her Quirk. She huffed and glared daggers at him, yet a smirk teased her lips as she lay helpless against him. "You're such a damn brat!"

"Careful, you're starting to sound like my mom," he warned, grinning, a mischievous glint in his crimson hues.

"Yeah, well it's an accurate description of you right now."

"It took your mind off things, even if it was just for a moment." He leaned down and nuzzled her neck, nipping at the supple softness of her skin. "We'll figure everything out, Angel. When we do, we'll fucking come out on top, like always."

Flushing red, the gravity hero couldn't help but let the warm feeling in her chest to consume her. "Sometimes I'm surprised by how optimistic you can be."

"Yeah, well, I have you to fucking blame for that." He leaned back, letting his back hit the bed as he pulled his girlfriend with him, holding her firmly against him. "We'll figure more out in the morning, alright? Let's just try to get some sleep."

Nodding against him, Ochaco buried her face, inhaling deeply and letting the sweet scent calm her. Her mind hadn't completely shut off, but she knew for the time being it would be fine to push the problems surrounding them away for at least a little while. "g…night," she mumbled.

"Goodnight, Ochaco." With a single peck to the top of her head, both heroes let sleep take them in.

* * *

"Ribbit. Ochaco, are you okay?" Asui walked beside the gravity hero, her stare piercing as she observed her friend trudge along slowly toward class, eyes half open. "You look exhausted."

"I am. I fell asleep late last night," Ochaco stated, yawning. "I had time to sleep in, but Mina called me, so that ruined my plan for that." They rounded the corner, U.A.'s massive building coming into view. Students walked in groups, all chatting idly without a care in the world. "Katsuki left early this morning too. Said he wanted to get a run in before class."

"Has there been any news on the boy with the time Quirk? Mina said you two got sent into the future. Ribbit. That seems really scary."

Ochaco bit her lower lip. "It was nerve racking. Everyone says they want to see what the future holds, but when it's actually presented, it becomes terrifying. I nearly had a panic attack when I met future Katsuki."

"But everything worked out okay, right?" Asui pushed past the school door and readjusted her slipping backpack. The halls were noisy enough to where their voices fell against the crowds, unheard. "Ochaco, we'll talk more after cla—"

Both girls paused, their phones ringing simultaneously, which meant only one thing. They were getting called into the agency. Pulling out theirs phones, Ochaco's caller ID read Nejire and Asui's read Ryukyu. The two had continued to intern there, honing their skills while trying to maintain their normal studies. It wasn't uncommon for them to get called in all hours of the day, whether it was to patrol or to accompany Ryukyu and Nejire on a mission. The group worked well together and had a lot of success, not to mention the press coverage went well for placing a good name on young female pro heroes.

Ochaco put her phone to her ear, immediately turning around and heading back outside. "Is everything okay?" she inquired, eyeing Asui just a few feet away.

Nejire was overly cheerful as usual, her voice trilling through the line a mile-a-minute. "Yeah, yeah…just there's a situation, a few actually. It's kinda crazy! I'm at a bank that's being robbed, but it's turned into a hostage situation, but just down the block there was an explosion. It's blocking the road, so back-up and Ryukyu is having a rough time getting through."

"An explosion? Whoa, slow down, Nejire, what's going on?"

"Multiple teams have been called in. I don't think anyone knows exactly what's going on just yet. Get here soon, 'kay? I'll hang on until then!" The phone went dead and Ochaco sighed as she pocketed the device. She moved to stand by Asui, concern flitting across the frog hero's features.

"Ryukyu said Nejire needs help with a hostage situation at Hoshika Bank. Ribbit. Another team is being called in to investigate an explosion that went off nearby, but there's no definite idea whether it's a villain attack or something else."

"Nejire didn't give me much detail on what was happening, but we should get there as soon as possible," Ochaco said, turning back toward the school, knuckles bone white against her sides. Asui nodded, following suit, yet her gaze remained on her friend, worry plastered over her features.

* * *

"Kacchan, wait up!" Izuku called, running after the explosive blonde. When he caught up, he grabbed Katsuki's arm, halting him long enough to receive a menacing glare.

"What the fuck do you want? I'm in a hurry," he spat, yanking his arm away. "Didn't you get the call? Endeavor needs us geared up and ready to go." He had been in a bad mood since waking this morning, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, his mind heavier with worries. Even with Ochaco sleeping soundly next to him, he couldn't stop himself from repeatedly waking up and checking to see if she was still there.

Izuku nodded, holding his phone up. "I know. Burnin called me and told me about the explosion that happened. She thinks that it has to do with a hostage situation going on at the Hoshika Bank. Todoroki and Endeavor are already there."

Glancing over his shoulder, Katsuki merely continued to glare at the emerald hued hero. "What does the explosion have to do with the bank? And stop following so damn close!"

Izuku ignored him and continued to keep pace, his scarred finger scrolling over his screen. "Ryukyu's agency is handling the hostage situation. Uraraka and Tsu are probably on their way. There's talk that one of the villains in the robbery had gotten away and got cornered, that or the explosion is being used as a distraction of sorts, maybe to somehow get the villain still inside out or—"

"Fucking stop rambling and let's go!" The two made their way to the dorms, each leaving to head to their rooms to retrieve their hero costumes. Most of the interns had been given permission to keep their costumes on hand or within their rooms in case they got called in unexpectedly.

"I'll meet you downstairs, Kacchan!" Izuku called as he took off running. Their third-year dorm placements had put them just down the hall from one another, with Kirishima and Sero having been placed on either side of them. The dynamic for their floor worked, aside from the times Mina and Denki would come up to attempt to pull pranks, sometimes managing to drag Sero into it. It often resulted in Katsuki flying off the handle and Izuku and Kirishima having to try to calm him down.

They made it to the first floor in record time, neither saying a word as they took off running. Up ahead by the gate, he saw Ochaco and Asui getting into a car with Aizawa, another behind them waiting with Present Mic standing beside it.

_She looks too tired,_ Katsuki thought, clenching his teeth. He saw the exhaustion mixed with her determination, the way her eyes were encased by dark circles. One thing he had learned all too well was that an exhausted hero became a reckless one.

"Come one, Kacchan, we need to hurry," Izuku stated, ushering a now cursing Katsuki into the car, not seeming to notice the anxiety welling up in his childhood friend.

The drive was short and silent. Neither boys said a thing until the car pulled up and Katsuki found himself getting out first, making large strides toward Todoroki and Endeavor who stood just within a police barricade. With luck they could finish things up here and join Ryukyu's group in dealing with the hostage situation.

"What the hell's going on?" As Katsuki came up beside the duel-Quirked hero, his crimson hues fell on the looming smoke coiling into the air like a snake.

For a moment, Todoroki simply stared at him, assessing the unusual energy emitting from the explosive hero before eyeing Izuku with questioning look. "It seems one of the villains involved with the bank robbery managed to somehow elude detection, at least up until this point."

Endeavor had his arms crossed, his face strewn together in a mixture of annoyance and extreme concentration. He tore his gaze away from the smoking building to eye his late arrival interns. "The perpetrators Quirk is unknown but judging from the noise complaints that occurred earlier just before the alarm sounded in the bank, he had some kind of ability that allows him to burrow underground."

Izuku came up to stand beside Todoroki, taking in his own assessment of the situation. "How do you know he can burrow underground?"

"Earlier before the alarm, the entire ground shook in select areas, stopping oddly enough when the explosion went off in this building," Todoroki stated, shrugging. "I'm guessing that while he was tunneling underground, he hit something he wasn't supposed to. Gas has been seeping from the building since."

"So is the villain still inside?" Katsuki finally chimed in.

"As far as we know. Right now it's too dangerous to go inside and have a look around. The amount of gas coming from the building could easily create another explosion."

Scoffing, Katsuki adjusted one of his gauntlets in the hopes of hiding his anxiety. "We're on standby in case the bastard makes a move, is that right? Fucking great."

"Don't seem so impatient, Ground Zero." Todoroki glanced behind him, eyes narrowing. The number of spectators were beginning the rise, the crowd of innocent citizens murmuring amongst themselves while others took out their phones to snap photos of the scene. Just beside them, several news reporters had gathered, cameras rolling. "We need to get the situation under control soon. The media is about to have a field day."

Endeavor moved forward without a word, his hulking figure encroaching on the space of the police lining the perimeter. "Stay back," he ordered. The officers shrank away, watching in silence as the flame hero marched into the building.

Katsuki glared, his arms crossing over his chest. "Tch. What the hell does he think he's doing?" As the words left his mouth, he watched that just as Endeavor approached the edge of the smoke, the flame encasing his body dissipated.

"Showing off," Todoroki stated, shaking his head. "Using his Quirk could easily cause another explosion, so he's going in to face a villain using only his own strength."

Izuku swallowed, his eyes practically bugging out. "What? Why would he do something so reckless? Won't he be effected by the gas leak?"

"Probably because he's come under fire by the media for being too passive the last few months."

"But there haven't been any big villain attacks. Things have been unusually quiet."

As the two chattered, Katsuki moved closer to the building, stopping just behind the officers. He watched intently as the smoke parted to the hulking man. He had little interest in what his classmates talked about, because in truth it had been insanely quiet. The few attacks that occurred that really made any headlines were hardly anything big, which wasn't necessarily bad, it just made things a lot more boring for someone as aggressive as Katsuki. Being an intern still, he didn't have the opportunity to handle things the way he wanted just yet, though he suspected that when he graduated and opened his own agency with Ochaco that he still would have to tame down his fighting style.

Assuming either of them survived this time Quirk hell Shingo had been placing them through.

When Endeavor fully disappeared, the crowd behind the police tape drew the explosive hero's attention as Ryukyu came up, her mouth set into a firm line. "The road is still blocked. The explosion sent debris everywhere. Anyone needing to get to the other side is going to have to take the long way around."

"Ryukyu? I figured you would be with your team at the hostage situation." Izuku came to stand beside her. He had spoken to her on several occasions now since the incident involving Eri's rescue and had come to admire the woman and the training she bestowed on Ochaco. Katsuki on the other hand had more or less become standoffish, believing that Ochaco would have been better interning with someone much more powerful.

Ryukyu hummed softly, shrugging in annoyance. "I was on my way there when the explosion hit and blocked the path. I contacted Nejire-chan, Froppy, and Uravity to handle the situation."

"Is that wise?" Todoroki inquired, joining the conversation.

Both Katsuki and Ryukyu shot the dual Quirked hero a warning glare.

"Those three are more than capable of handling a damn hostage situation, Icy-Hot."

"Not to mention Nejire-chan is no longer an intern but a pro working at my agency now. They're in capable hands," the dragon hero added.

"My apologies. I only meant that the villain holding the bank hostage was rumored to have a size Quirk. I only meant that Ryukyu's Quirk would be useful in dealing with larger opponents." Todoroki glanced at Izuku for help, but found the emerald haired hero conveniently directed his attention back toward the building.

"They'll fucking handle it."

"Ground Zero, I would suggest watching your language when the media is near," Ryukyu warned, motioning toward the cameras aimed toward them. It was unlikely that they could hear anything from where they were, but it only took one bad moment to put a dent in a hero's reputation.

"Whatever."

The officers nearby exchanged glances before a staticky voice blared through the radios on their belts.

'_Come…in. Immediate… Send… Bank… Situation…'_

The air grew silent and the group found themselves converging around the officer. The few words that could be made out caused Katsuki's stomach to drop. He reached for the radio, snatching it. "Repeat," he ordered, knowing his own voice may as well go through unclear. "Repeat."

'_SOS…bank…Urav…ty…' _

There was a piercing screech and the radio went dead again and before a word could be spoken, Katsuki had already turned on his heels.

"Ground Zero, stop! You can't just abandon your post!" Izuku quickly grabbed the explosive hero's hand, yanking him back and forcing him to look at him. "I'm sure every—"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku! In what world does 'SOS' and my girlfriend's hero name in the same sentence mean that everything is alright?" Katsuki jerked away, teeth gritting in frustration. "We have a whole group of people just standing here because Endeavor decided to go deal with shit on his own! The hostage situation is a damn priority!"

"But—"

"Let him go," Ryukyu cut in. "I'll deal with Endeavor when he comes back out. With the gas still leaking from the building, his Quirk isn't of much use here anyway. If anything, he should have been sent to the hostage situation from the start."

Izuku tapped his chin. "Wait… Ryukyu, you said that the roads were blocked by debris, right?"

"Hm?"

"Earlier, you said you were on your way to the hostage situation, but you couldn't get through. The way we came in wasn't blocked." Izuku quickly moved back toward Todoroki, his stance shifting and readying for a fight. "You're not Ryukyu."

Katsuki was already running down the street, using his Quirk to launch himself into the air and over the barricade. Several phones lifted into the air, followed by a sea of flashes as the explosive hero fell out of view of his teammates. He was too focused on Ochaco to notice Ryukyu suddenly melting away, replaced by the one and only Himiko Toga.

"Perceptive as usual, Izuku darling." That fiendish smile was enough to send shivers down the All Might's successor's spine. She moved forward, outstretching her arm as her disguise melted away into a sickening glop on the ground, her slender figure void of clothing.

Todoroki spun around toward the spectators and quickly created a wall of ice, blocking the scene from their view. The last thing they needs was to stir panic, and Himiko Toga would do just that. It had been a year since the League of Villains was hit so hard the remaining members had gone into hiding, Tomura Shigaraki included. Twice and Himiko had managed to slaughter ten innocent lives before the pro's had shown up to stop them. Twice had been brought in without trouble, but Himiko slipped on a new look and disappeared and hadn't been seen since now.

"What are you doing here?" Izuku demanded, forcing his gaze to remain fixed on her face. He had to muster up every ounce of strength to keep himself from getting flustered by her nudity. "Where's Ryukyu? Were you the one who created that explosion a little bit ago?"

Rolling her eyes, smirking widening. "Well, duh. Of course it was me, I had to have some sort of distraction." She shrugged her shoulders, not seeming the least bit worried that the giant ice wall had blocked off the last exit for escape. "It took forever for the big guy to leave so I could come talk to you."

"Talk?" Scoffing, Todoroki formed a sheet of ice on the ground, letting the cold creep up on Himiko's ankles, holding her in place. "What did you do with Ryukyu?"

"She's fine, though maybe a bit bloodied," Himiko replied, a giggle following suit. "It was such a lovely sight… So much red." She tapped her chin, seeming unfazed by the icy shackles. It was as though she wanted to be caught. "I was told not to kill her though. Boo. I was surprised you bought the lie about the debris. You almost didn't catch on." She puffed out her lower lip as a shiver raced through her. "Hey, do you mind not using your ice on me? What if I catch my death out here?"

"Somehow I don't think you'll gather much sympathy," Todoroki said dryly. "You won't be encased long enough for any damage to be done."

The two officers had moved to either side of the girl, one bringing out a pair of specialized cuffs while the other spoke into his radio. The second the cuffs were on, Todoroki approached, leaning down to place his hand on the ice to thaw Himiko from it's grasp.

"You're no fun," she pouted.

Once she out of sight, the ice wall having been brought down long enough to get through, Izuku pulled out his phone. "She wanted to be caught."

"I was thinking the same thing," Todoroki said, glancing over his comrades' shoulder. "I think she was just a distraction for whatever is happening at the bank. I don't know why she would allow herself to get caught though."

Izuku dialed in Katsuki's number, listening to it ring until the curt voicemail message filled his ear. "He isn't picking up. I don't think he will, honestly."

"Endeavor should be out soon. I'll stay here and explain the situation to him. You should go and back up the others."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just go. We might not have a lot of time."

* * *

Upon arriving at the bank, Asui and Ochaco joined Nejire, who stood talking hastily to Tsukauchi. Relief flooded over the blue haired girl's face as she ran to meet them, her hands extending to take theirs. "Thank goodness you're here! Things are getting so crazy!"

"What's the situation?" Ochaco inquired, taking in the scene around her. A barricade had been set up, manned by several officers while Nejire, Tsukauchi, and a handful of uniforms were going through blueprints of the bank.

"Well, we tried to open up communication with the villain inside, but no luck," Nejire said with a shake of her head. "The phone inside keeps ringing and we've sent in a drone that contained a cell phone, but still nothing."

"Ribbit. How do you know the hostages are still safe?"

"That's the problem, we don't. We're gearing up to go in, but we waited until you could get here. We don't know how many hostages or how many villains are inside."

Ochaco frowned and rubbed the pads of her fingertips. "Something doesn't seem right about this," she said. "It's extremely rare for someone taking hostages to not negotiate in some form or another."

"True," Tsukauchi intervened, sighing softly. "But right now we don't have much of a choice. "There's too many pieces that don't make much sense, but time isn't exactly on our side here for us to figure it all out. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that one of the hostages could get hurt."

"This all sounds like a trap. Ribbit."

"Froppy is right. If we go charging in, how do we know the villains inside won't panic and hurt the hostages anyway?" There was no quelling the unease about the situation and she was thankful that Asui felt the same way. At least she knew she wasn't being paranoid.

Nejire put her hands up, silencing the conversation. "Look, look… I know this isn't a great situation to be in, but what other options do we have, Uravity?"

"I… I don't know," she relented, eyeing Asui who was equally stumped. "I guess we have no choice."

"Alright, get ready you three. I'll rally up the remaining officers. We'll head in first—"

"No, I'll head in first. There's a rumor that the villain inside has some kind of size Quirk," Nejire said. "If that's the case, my attacks will be effective against them. Uravity and Froppy will follow up and try to get to the hostages as quickly as possible."

Tsukauchi nodded, following the now pro's lead. It was a risky plan going in blind, but it was all they had, especially since it appeared back up was far away yet. Still, something nagged relentlessly at her, the voice in her mind screaming, begging for her to stop this plan.

'_Breathe. It's just the exhaustion talking, you'll be fine. Everything will be fine.'_

But would it? Was going against her instincts the best choice?

The group prepared quickly, everyone taking their positions. Nejire went in first, pushing aside the doors and making her way into main lobby of the bank. Officers flooded either side of her, their guns at the ready while Ochaco and Asui crept in from the back. To their surprise the lobby was completely empty.

"What the…?" Nejire's head whipped around, eyes scanning every possible space until her eyes fell to a small hallway just to the left, leading to the vault. "Follow me!" She ran towards the hall, stopping just long enough to peer around the corner to confirm the coast was clear. "It's possible they moved everyone to one of the back rooms."

"I have a bad feeling. Ribbit."

"Me too. Something isn't right," Ochaco agreed, her eyebrows pinching together in concern. "Why would they move the hostages to the vault area? They would just get in the way—" The gravity hero made an abrupt stop, her eyes widening in horror as a shadow flitted across her vision. "Froppy, watch out!" She placed her palm against the frog hero's arm, activating her Quirk and sending her friend hurling out of the way in time as a massive fist slammed down from the ceiling between them.

"Uravity! Froppy!" Nejire turned, watching the Ochaco narrowly avoided becoming a pancake. "The villain, he's above us!"

The figure loomed over, keeping himself hoisted up against the ceiling, his lips curled back into a sinister smile. "Took you all long enough," he snarled. "Was starting to think my partner set me up."

"Partner?"

Asui used her tongue to fling herself to Ochaco's side, grabbing hold of her and moving them toward Nejire. "Where are the hostages?"

"Oh, them?" The villain laughed, the sound reverberating. "There never were any hostages. My partner let them go the second we got inside."

Ochaco dusted her costume off, her honeyed eyes narrowing. "So, it was a trap, after all."

"Smart girl," the villain laughed, sending his fist hurling toward the gravity hero.

"Uravity!" Asui called, her tongue shooting out and pulling her out of the way. "Stay alert."

Ochaco was shaking. She could have easily dodged that attack on her own, yet she allowed anger to haze her judgement. "Right. I'm sorry." Unfortunately, as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a stabbing pain rush through her body. The villain had slammed his fist into the wall near them, crumbling it to pieces, one chunk managing to hit Ochaco square in the back. She felt the air leave her lungs in a rush, the shock racing through her mind as she fell to her knees. Asui had yanked at least three of six officers out of the way while Nejire used her Quirk to shatter the pieces aimed at the other three officers and Tsukauchi.

"We need to get out of here!" Nejire shouted. The villain was making a point to crush the area around him in an attempt to keep everyone moving, not realizing that he was placing things drastically in Ochaco's favor.

"Go, get outside!" Ochaco urged. "I'll handle him while you get out!"

"We're leaving this to you, Uravity!" Tsukauchi shouted, ushering his men toward the door. Nejire and Asui both glanced back at Ochaco, watching at the gravity hero used the small grappling hook on her wrist to maneuver around the falling debris, her other hand reaching out and touching as many pieces as possible.

The villain had dropped from the ceiling, his towering form imposing, but hardly enough to be considered a true size Quirk. He didn't hold even a fraction of the height of Mt. Lady, though it appeared that most of the danger rested in his raw strength.

"Where you going, girlie? What's a small-fry hero like you gonna do?" The villain sneered, chuckling. "You're like a doll."

Ochaco sent her grappling hook toward the ceiling, anchoring on and letting it pull her with ease toward the dozens of pieces of rubble she had floated up with her. When she looked down, her gaze met the villains, her lips curling into a smug smile. "I guess you'll see what this 'doll' can do, won't you?" Her fingertips pressed together and the look on his face was all she needed to confirm she had won. "Release!"

Chunk after chunk came barreling downwards and the villain did everything he could to smash each piece, yet he hardly proved fast enough. Eventually he was hit in the shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards as another collided into his back. As soon as he was unable to move as freely, Ochaco disabled her Quirk on herself and launched her body toward him, feet first. She came in fast and hard, her boot connecting to the top of the villain's head and sending him face down into the ground before she activated her Quirk and caught herself before colliding with the ground herself.

She stumbled, nearly tripping as she struggled to readjust herself from the momentum of her attack, but once she was back on solid ground, she dared to let out her pent breath.

Unfortunately things weren't over yet. Ochaco looked toward the door, confirming to herself that her comrades had managed to get to safety. She wouldn't be able to take this guy out alone, but hopefully she had at least stunned him enough.

Oh, how wrong she was.

The moment she took a step forward, Ochaco felt the crushing embrace of the villain's hand around her, gripping her tightly. When she looked back at him, her eyes widened, seeing the originally seven-foot tall villain now standing at least fifteen feet. His body had become enormous and though he was still smaller than Mt. Lady, it appeared that his strength had also increased, much to her horror.

Her hands were pressed against her sides, rendering her unable to activate her Quirk, not that it would prove useful while she was in his grasp.

"What now?" the villain challenged. "You thought you won?"

"Let her the fuck go!"

A wall of explosive fire stormed through the air, slamming into the villain's face, forcing him backwards. In the midst of the flames, Katsuki busted through, soaring toward Ochaco, reaching out for her. He grabbed hold of the villain's hand, digging his boot in to get a better grip before he put his palm against his wrist and let a massive explosion out. The villain let out a curdled cry and Ochaco was released, her body immediately encased by a much gentler embrace as the explosive hero snaked one arm around her, pulling her in close while he used his other hand to create smaller explosions to help guide him back to solid ground.

"Katsuki…?" Ochaco inquired weakly, her lips forming into a faint smile. "What are you doing here?"

"An SOS came through on the police radio. Your name came up," he stated, helping his girlfriend stand up straight. "Are you okay? What the hell were you thinking trying to take someone like that on alone?"

"He wasn't that big before. I was distracting him while the others got to safety, but before I could get out, he had increased his Quirked," Ochaco explained. "And then you luckily showed up like some kind of miracle."

"Lucky I did," he murmured, glancing over his shoulder. "Get outside. This guy isn't out yet."

"You literally just got mad at me for trying to take someone like this on alone and now you're about to?"

"Angel, I'm royally pissed off right. This bastard thought he could take you out, put your life in jeopardy." With gritted teeth, Katsuki let out a faint snarl. "I'm not going to lose this this fucking wannabe villain. Now GO!"

At the tail end of their argument, the villain leapt toward them both, his size increasing exponentially until he stood about half of Mt. Lady's size. His shoulders pressed uncomfortably against the walls of the building, breaking past what little remained of the walls from his previous assault. His head and neck busted up the ceiling until the bank now stood as a pile of rubble around him. Katsuki and Ochaco maneuvered around the debris, making their way toward the police barricade to avoid getting hit.

"This guy just doesn't give up!" she hissed, eyes narrowing. "He's been hit so many times. He should have sustained damage by now."

"We need to hit him hard enough to knock him out completely," Katsuki stated. "Uravity, can you move?"

"Of course I can!" Ochaco said, moving past him, her voice low and laced with anger. She was becoming frustrated by the situation, yet it had sparked a new wave of determination within her. She grappled to the largest pile of rubble, her hands connecting to a piece approximately seven-feet wide and five-feet tall. The chunk lifted with ease and she swung it above her head, walking steadily toward the enlarged villain.

Katsuki blinked, his head cocking to the side. "Uh, Uravity…? What the hell are you doing?"

"A throwback to the past."

"Hah?"

It all came together when the villain dove toward her, his hands outstretched, the momentum behind his size making him move faster than he actually was. Ochaco spread her legs, digging the heel of her boot into the ground as brought the large chunk back like a bat. When the villain came in close, she spun, colliding the piece directly with the enlarged man's face, sending him hurtling backwards with a force that surprised even her.

The move was identical to the one she had performed against Iida during their first training exercise at U.A. She had managed to hit the villain so hard in the head he had been rendered unconscious almost instantly upon impact. Katsuki stared at her, dazed, processing what had just transpired and the fact that his girlfriend had just completely taken out such a powerful opponent with practically no help. It was impressive and it made him well with pride. She certainly had come a long way since they first met.

Ochaco felt as though her whole body had been hit by a truck. She released the rubble she had used as a weapon and stumbled toward Katsuki, a soft smile etched across her lips. "We won," she said, weakly pumping her fist in the air. She felt her frame encased by his arms as he held her up, brushing her auburn locks from her cheeks.

"You did good, Angel," Katsuki whispered. He wanted so badly to kiss her right then and there, but with the media swarming the barricade and nearly ever spectator there with a cell phone taking pictures, he went against his urges and instead helped her toward one of the stretchers the medical team raced toward them.

The last thing Ochaco remembered was seeing cobalt blue before unconsciousness overtook her, her frame being effortlessly lifted into the ambulance.

* * *

When Ochaco woke, she was met with the sound of beeping machinery accompanied by the faint drip of an IV. She looked around bleary eyed until her honeyed hues fell to Katsuki's hunched over figure, his head resting on her stomach. He was asleep, his features serene and peaceful, despite the amount of paperwork scattered about by the foot of the bed, likely reports he had busied himself with.

She slid her hand through his hair, amused when he stirred and nuzzled against her further yet remaining asleep. He was typically a light sleeper, always hyperaware of his surroundings, yet this time he was blissfully aware that his girlfriend had woken up. She caught sight of his hand resting against her thigh, covered in bandages, likely from the overuse of his Quirk.

Her own body, however, wasn't as unscathed. She felt sore all over and she felt the bandages ridding up her left leg, making it difficult to move comfortably. Her hand had several scratches from where they had collided with the debris she had floated and her cheek had a piece of gauze taped to it. Outside of feeling stiff, she wasn't in particularly bad shape.

"Katsuki, wake up," she said softly, smiling. Yet as her hand moved toward his cheek, she stopped, becoming aware of a familiar stare boring into her. Izuku was standing in the doorway, his face red as his emerald hues bounced around the room looking for something to settle on.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to see if Kacchan needed anything since he wouldn't leave your side," he explained in a rush. "I can come back later…?"

Ochaco laughed, motioning him. "It's alright. I just woke up, actually."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I fought a giant villain," she mused. "What happened after I passed out?"

"A lot in general," Izuku said, moving toward the bed. He gathered up the loose sheets of paper Katsuki had scattered around and shuffled them into a neat pile. "Tsukauchi is still trying to piece everything together, but the explosion and the bank incident were connected."

"I kind of figured that. It would be too much of a coincidence."

Izuku swallowed as he fidgeted with hands, his fingers running over the largest scar. "Himiko Toga was responsible for the explosion. She was working with the villain that destroyed the bank."

"Wait…Himiko Toga from the league?"

Izuku nodded, his gaze falling to Katsuki's still sleeping figure. "She let herself get arrested, but we don't know why. She hasn't said a word. She made herself look like Ryukyu at the explosion sight and then got arrested."

"Wait, so then where's Ryukyu? Is she alright?"

"She's fine. She was on her way to the bank when she got intercepted by Himiko. The two fought and I'm guessing in the midst of the battle Himiko managed to get some of her blood."

"You two are noisy as hell," Katsuki mumbled, his crimson hues opening and immediately resting on Ochaco. "You're awake."

"More awake than you, it would seem," Ochaco teased, poking his cheek. "Deku was just filling me in everything that happened."

"What little can be pieced together, at least."

Katsuki sat up and stretched before crossing his arms. "Did you tell her yet?"

"Not yet."

Ochaco looked between the two boys, her eyebrows sewn together in a stern line. "What's wrong?"

"The villain in the bank…they found Shingo's name and an address written on inside his pocket. Somehow those two are connected to him."

"How is that possible?"

"That's what Tsukauchi is trying to figure out." Katsuki stood and reached for the stack of papers Izuku still held from his reports and shuffled through them. "The address written on the note is the same one from the dossier you got from your future self. Aizawa looked into it and found out the address is registered to a man by the name of Suzubara Einosuke."

"We think it's Shingo's father," Izuku added. "He has a time manipulation Quirk. Nothing recorded that he could jump through time, just alter it in the present a bit."

"Shingo's mother is also registered at that address and that's where things start to make a bit more sense." Katsuki handed Ochaco the sheet with Shingo's picture on it. It looked to be a school photo, his uniform was white and blue and suddenly the gravity hero felt her chest clench.

"That uniform… It's the same one as my elementary school uniform," she said, swallowing hard.

Katsuki and Izuku exchanged looks, the two leaning over the look at the picture again. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Sorry, what were you saying about his mother?"

Izuku cleared his throat. "Aizawa told us that his mother's Quirk is memory manipulation."

Silence flooded around them and Ochaco felt her palms become sweaty and hot. "Memory manipulation?" Her eyes met Katsuki's, the anxiety evident. "Do you think his mother is somehow involved?"

"I don't think so. I think Shingo was born with _both_ Quirks, the time Quirk mutating into something stronger than what his father has."

This was all too much information to process at once. They had literally just been called in to handle a situation, only to find out the villains involved had something to do with Shingo who in turn possibly possessed two insanely powerful Quirks? Not to mention Himiko Toga had made a reappearance for the first time in nearly a year and had allowed herself to get caught for whatever ungodly reason. Ochaco felt her stomach lurch as she brought her knees to her chest, ignoring the pain in her left leg.

"I feel like my brain is going to explode." Yet everything started to make a bit more sense regarding Shingo. If he truly did possess both of these Quirks, he had the ability to erase any meeting he had with the people he encountered during his time jumps. Ochaco gnawed on her thumbnail, her mind racing a mile a minute. "I don't think it's the Shingo we encountered that's altering people's memories."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Shingo can barely control his abilities. He gets upset and accidently whirls himself and us through time. Everyone that has been affected by the other Quirk has had precise moments altered. Does that seem like something a child would have perfect control over?"

Katsuki rubbed his forehead. "This entire conversation is a lot of take it and it's giving me a fucking headache."

"Me too," Izuku admitted, frowning. "I'm so damn confused by this."

Ochaco let out an agitated groan. "I know, but you two just have to trust me on this one. Is anyone investigating the address?"

"Tsukauchi is headed there this afternoon to talk with the parents to see if he can find anything out. With luck, we'll find Shingo there. In the meantime, let's put the brakes on this whole conversation until we know more. My head is on fucking fire from this."

Despite agreeing to let the wild theories about Shingo get put to rest for now, Ochaco couldn't help but think about it. She knew good and well that there was a lot more going on than what they understood, but she couldn't help but feel as though the more pieces they put into place, the more confusing everything got. Who was Shingo really? What kind of parents did he have? Why was he always so unhappy looking in the photos they saw of him?

The mounting confusion was enough to cause her anxiety to flare up at an unreasonable rate, even as her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her when Izuku left to retrieve the doctor.

* * *

A/N: _You know when you start a fic and you're like, "This is just gonna be an easy fic, lots of fluff, just a cute little story." Then about three chapters in your brain is like, "Nah, we need to spice things up, let's add drama, let's add angst, let's add complications to the characters." And at that point you're pretty sure your readers are like, "Well, that certainly escalated."_

_Well, that'll be what you're all thinking next chapter, so be prepared!_

_Also, I don't actually know what Ochaco's elementary school was called or what the uniforms look like, so I'm just taking a shot in the dark. As for the next chapter, the mystery of Shingo will be blown wide open! So for those who have been following the story and my array of confusion mixed into this story involving everything, rest assured, it'll all make sense come next chapter!_


	6. Chapter 6 - Painful Truths

**Unfolding Time  
****Chapter Six** – Painful Truths

**A/N**: Thanks for sticking with me so far! This chapter will connect quite a few dots and will be pulling at some heartstrings!

On a side note, I wanted to make those who follow me on aware that once I have completed this story, I will be moving exclusively over to AO3. It will be a bit easier for me to manage my stories on just one platform, but I won't abandon the fics I have currently on here, I will be certain to complete them here and on AO3. I just wanted to give people a heads-up in case anyone is interested in following any future works of mine. I do also have a twitter, you are more than welcome to follow for updates there as well.

* * *

The spring air felt unusually muggy to Ochaco as she made her way through the courtyard of her elementary school. It had been barely a day since she was released after her run-in with the villain at the bank, yet she hardly felt the ability to rest. Her anxiety had sprung to life the second she learned Himiko Toga was back in play since her disappearance and that whoever she was working with now had some kind of connection to Shingo. The reality of the boy's situation was becoming glaringly clear and sitting back asking question after question was no longer an option.

It was time to become persistent in seeking out the truth.

Ochaco paused at the front doors to the school, her phone giving off a shrill chime to alert her to a new text. She already knew who it was from. She had left the dorms early this morning to head to the agency to turn in her report of the bank incident, but rather than returning to U.A. to attend class, she made her way to her old elementary school. She pulled out the device and opened the message, her chest squeezing.

**Katsuki  
**_Where are you?_

**Ochaco  
**_I left early to give my report to the agency. Making a quick stop before heading back._

She had woken up before Katsuki this morning, leaving only a note about heading to the agency. A part of her hoped that he would leave it at that, but he wasn't an idiot. There was no doubt in her mind that the explosive hero knew something else was up. Her phone chimed again, causing her heart to nearly leap from her chest.

**Katsuki  
**_Be careful._

Those words told her everything. Katsuki knew she was up to something, but he was giving her his trust to take care of things and return safely. It meant the world to her that even with the shitshow that had taken place in the past few weeks that her boyfriend hadn't turned into an overprotective shadow and had the belief that she could take care of herself.

She pocketed her phone and went inside. School didn't start for another hour for elementary students, but the faculty was already here, giving the gravity hero plenty of opportunity to learn more about Shingo from an academic perspective.

"Can I help you?"

Ochaco spun on her heels, seeing a tall woman with long brown hair, glasses, and a modest attire staring at her from the end of the hallway. The woman studied her closely, eyebrows knitting together before lifting in surprise.

"Oh! You're…" She blinked, tilting her head. "You're Uravity!"

Despite having media exposure since her first year, it never ceased to amaze Ochaco how quickly some people were able to recognize her. Laughing nervously, the gravity hero rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I am…" she said slowly. "I actually went to elementary school here."

"I'm aware," the woman said excitedly. "The school is quite proud about a future hero having attended here. You're a role model to several of the students here." She came up, her hands reaching out to take Ochaco's in hers. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Ochaco studied the woman carefully, racking her brain for any sort of hint that would tell her what she needed to know. Suddenly realization flooded her features and she smiled. "Ms. Hanawe! I almost didn't recognize you; your hair is so long now."

"I'm surprised you remembered me, truthfully," Hanawe stated, her cheeks flushing. "You've grown into quite the young woman. I'm proud to have had you as one of my students."

The flattery was almost too much to bear. Ochaco bit her lip, glancing away as her cheeks deepened in color. She envied all the times Katsuki remained composed when someone knew who he was, unless they got directly in his face, of course. Ms. Hanawe had been her homeroom teacher and one of the few people who had believed in her dream to become a pro. It warmed her heart to know the woman still worked here and hoped that she still inspired her students.

Releasing the teacher's hands, Ochaco regained her composure, clearing her throat. She couldn't forget why she had come here in the first place. "Ms. Hanawe, can I talk to you about a student that goes here? A boy who goes by the name Shingo Einosuke?"

"Did something happen to him?" Hanawe asked quickly. "Is he in trouble?"

"Well, that's what I'm here to try and determine," Ochaco said, averting her eyes. She gave the teacher the short version of what was happening with Shingo, leaving out the possible connection to the league and just how much time travelling had been involved. Hanawe led Ochaco to an empty classroom where they sat at one of the small tables. The room brought back memories for the hero, each of the decorations the same excluding the far wall where images of pro heroes were laid out. Beneath the pictures were what looked to be letters written by the students.

"Shingo is a very bright student, but he's struggled since his sister, Hikari, passed away. She was quite sick," Hanawe explained, shaking her head. "He spoke about her often until she passed. When she was gone, he became very withdrawn, except when it came to you, Miss Uraraka."

"Me?"

The woman stood and led Ochaco over towards the back of the room near the board of pro hero photos and letters. As the gravity hero looked over each image, she was shocked to see a newspaper article with her image on it posted up on the board and beneath it a letter written and signed by Shingo.

Swallowing hard, Ochaco took the letter, her eyes reading over the messy scrawl of words. The letter went into detail about why Shingo had chosen Uravity as his favorite hero, that her abilities were 'the best' and that 'her kindness was unmatched, like Hikari's'. It was the single most touching thing Ochaco had ever seen in her life and the feelings welling up in her chest caused her eyes to tear up.

"He wrote that earlier this year," Hanawe explained, placing a gentle hand on Ochaco's shoulder. "The assignment was to write about a hero that inspired them. Shingo chose you. He speaks very highly of you. If Shingo is truly in trouble, I'm not surprised he reached out to you for help."

Was that what was happening? Had each time the young boy come to see her he had really been crying out for help and she was too ignorant to have seen it?

"Is there anything you can tell me about his personal life?" Ochaco inquired, swallowing back the tremble that threatened her resolve.

Hanawe shifted uncomfortably and wrapped one of her arms around herself. "Since his sister died, Shingo has become withdrawn. There was a rumor going around that his father had walked off and he lived with his mother, who is suffering from the same illness his sister had."

"His father isn't in the picture anymore?"

"As far as I know. Each time I've phoned the Einosuke residence, I've only spoken to his mother and each time I've asked about Shingo's father, she says he's not there, but isn't very specific. And over the past month, Shingo had missed quite a bit of school. I think it's because his mother is getting worse."

Everything was starting to make sense, at least when it came to the child version of Shingo. His life had become uprooted when his sister died and he was now faced with the possibility of losing his mother to the same illness. No wonder he had begun acting out. How was a child supposed to cope with something so tragic? Not only that but there was a possibility his father had skipped out on his family, leaving everything to weigh down on the young boy's shoulders.

The biggest mystery that remained now was what the future version of Shingo was up to, but Ochaco had no doubt that his future self was what the league, or whoever Himiko was working for, was after.

"I should go," she stated suddenly, glancing at the clock. "Class will be starting soon."

"Oh, yes of course!"

"Do you mind if I hold onto Shingo's letter for a bit?" Ochaco inquired, walking with the teacher to the hallway.

"Not at all. I hope it helps you in some way. I think about Shingo and his situation quite often," Hanawe admitted. "I wish there was more I was able to do. If you need anything else from me, please don't hesitate to stop by again, Miss Uraraka!"

"Thank you, Ms. Hanawe. I appreciate that."

* * *

The second Ochaco stepped outside of the elementary school, her honeyed eyes met a familiar set of cobalt blue, yet they weren't that of a child's. The future Shingo stood leaned up against a tree, arms crossed over his chest as his unblinking stare bore into her. He didn't seem to least bit thrilled to see her, but his reaction hardly made a dent in the gravity hero's determination.

"I guess this saves me the trouble of having to find you myself," she muttered, approaching him. She was fully aware of the risks involved standing before him, knowing this version of Shingo likely had full control of both his Quirks. She held up the letter, her eyes narrowing. "I think you have some explaining to do, don't you?"

Shingo pushed himself from the tree, making a swift motion to snatch the letter, failing when Ochaco abruptly stepped out of reach. He made a hissing noise under his breath, his gaze narrowing into a glare. "Why should I explain anything to you?" he challenged.

"That's some audacity," Ochaco shot back, unfolding the letter. "Especially coming from someone who wrote this. I have _every_ right to ask for an explanation."

It wasn't the kind of interaction she expected to have with Shingo's future self, but from what she saw of him now, she knew there was a darkness in him that had been growing furiously since childhood. There were only bits and pieces that she knew, yet the larger image that made up the entirety of the situation involving the time user was still hazy.

"Please, Shingo. _Talk_ to me, let me at least try to help," Ochaco begged, once again stepping toward him. She wondered whether she had stood before him one before, saying the same words and whether they had made any sort of impact. Maybe this was a totally new interaction, it was hard to say what was reality and what had been twisted by the time jumps.

"The only thing that puts you in my life is my younger self's admiration for you, Uravity," Shingo said softly. "If I had never reached out to you, never believed that I had the luxury of being saved, none of this would be happening now."

"That doesn't matter, Shingo. The reality is it is happening. Your younger self is sending me and Katsuki through time and I'm guessing that you've been following each instance and using the Quirk you got from your mother to alter memories. That's why I don't remember meeting Katsuki when I was a child, because the you standing before me now erased my past selves memory of that day, changing it." The gravity hero shifted, huffing out a breath of air as she crossed her arms in frustration. "What I don't understand is why you haven't tried to erase the present versions of me and Katsuki."

Shingo was quiet for a long time, his teeth gnawing at his lower lip until his mouth tasted of copper. "Apart of me wanted to see what you would actually do," he admitted. "I never thought you would actually connect so many dots about me. I never intended for you to learn as much as you have about me."

"I wish I could take more pride in that, but there's still so much I don't know about you, Shingo." Ochaco had to continuously remind herself to watch her words, to keep from unleashing the flood of questions that bounced around inside her mind that desperately needed answers. "Did you come here to alter my memory?"

"Originally, yes. But…" His voice trailed, his gaze finally averting. "I'm so tired of running."

_Running?_ Ochaco cocked her head to the side, confusion trailing over her features.

Shingo held his hand out toward her suddenly, motioning for her to take it. "It's much easier if I just show you."

"You want to time jump?"

"To the past, where this shitshow all began."

The idea of getting answers was extremely tempting, but time jumping? It was bad enough when the younger Shingo would activate his Quirk, but how could she know that this version actually meant well? For all she knew it was just some clever wordplay to earn enough trust to get close and alter her memory.

"Give me a moment," Ochaco stated, holding up her hand. With her other hand she dug out her phone and pulled up Katsuki's number, inhaling sharply.

**Ochaco  
**_You might not hear from me for a few hours. Don't panic, just wish me some luck and trust me. I love you._

She hit send and pocketed the device, her palm meeting Shingo's. If she allowed enough time for Katsuki to respond, she knew very well that she would lose her nerve to jump into the unknown. For now, her life rested entirely in the hands of the future Shingo.

The world shifted and turned, contorting in a manner that made Ochaco's stomach lurch with familiar nausea. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on each breath she took until she felt as though the ground beneath her feet stopped shifting.

"You can open your eyes now," Shingo said, releasing her hand.

Ochaco lifted one lid, then both, taking in the sight of a small house painted a simple blue. They were somewhere in the backyard, hidden against a tall hedge, just out of earshot of a young woman and her child playing on the back patio. The gravity hero watched the two, finding it suddenly difficult to breathe. The young boy was standing beside the woman, cocking his head to side as he spoke, likely asking a question while the woman turned, her stare vacant. She looked worn out and depressed, like any brightness within her life withered and died.

"That's my mother, shortly after Hikari died." Shingo placed a hand on Ochaco's shoulder and moved his other hand to point out toward the child. "Everything fell apart when she died."

Slowly Ochaco inhaled, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene before her. "She looks so…sad, so heartbroken." The understanding of losing a child eluded her. She couldn't fathom what kind of pain a parent endured when the tiny human being they loved and cared for suddenly got ripped away. It left an uneasy feeling in her gut as her mind flashed back to her future self. Was she a mother in the future? Would her and Katsuki ever share in parenthood ever?

Shingo sighed, shaking his head. "Every single time I return to this particular moment, I always wonder what would have happened if Hikari hadn't died," he murmured. "This particular day is what cemented everything."

"What do you mean?"

"My father left this particular morning and never returned. He said he had to go into the office, that some kind of emergency occurred. He wasn't a good man, but at some point in his life he was a good parent."

"Then why did he leave if he was supposedly a good parent?" Ochaco inquired. "How could you call someone good when they skip out on their own family, especially after losing a child?"

Shingo gave Ochaco's shoulder a squeeze. "He left in order to protect us."

Without warning, the ground began to shift, and the gravity hero knew what was coming next: another time jump. Once again, she inhaled sharply and shut her eyes, waiting patiently until she felt as though she were on solid ground once more. When her eyes opened, she was surprised to see they were in a small, cramped ally, trash coating nearly every inch of the ground, the sickening smell permeating the air. She cupped her hands over her mouth, gagging.

"Where are we?"

Shingo motioned behind Ochaco to where a tall man with black hair and blue eyes stood before none other than Tomura Shigaraki. Ochaco felt her heartbeat skip before violently hitting against her ribcage as a wave of panic flew through her. "What is _he_ doing here?"

"I found out about everything much later in life. I grew up hating my father, thinking he left his family behind, but then I began controlling the time jumps. If I knew a particular place I wanted to go, I could. Eventually I pinpointed where my father had gone that day," Shingo explained. "Tomura had repeatedly come to my father asking him to join the League of Villains."

Ochaco quirked an eyebrow up, staring at him speculatively. "Was your father a villain?"

"Before he met my mother, he was. He was just a thug who used his Quirk in robberies, altering bits of time in order to escape. He eventually met my mother and he gave up crime, but his past wouldn't exactly let him go." Anger seeped into his expression as he glared daggers at Shigaraki. "Tomura had claimed he needed my father's Quirk. At first, he just said no, which didn't exactly set well with someone who's out to make an army of villains."

The scene before them was simply enough. Neither man seemed particularly angry or violent, at least not until Shingo's father raised his voice loud enough for the two to hear from their hiding spot in the ally.

"My son has nothing to do with this, Tomura!" the man shouted, his fists clenched so hard they turned bone white. "He has nothing to do with this!"

Ochaco swallowed hard, fighting her urge to run out and place herself between the two. This wasn't just a memory, this was a real moment that had happened and could easily be changed, she had to remember that despite her hero instincts screaming at her. "Shingo…this moment, your father, did he…?" Her words trailed, falling into emptiness as she watched Tomura's hand reach out and grab onto the man's face, his pinky slightly raised. At that moment she felt her heart break, despite the firm grasp Shingo had on her shoulder. "Have you ever tried to change the past?"

"At one point, I wanted to change how everything turned out. I wanted to save Hikari so my mother wouldn't turn into a shell of herself, to avoid my father running off and getting caught up with the league, to see just how my life would actually turn out, but I didn't."

"Why? What stopped you? I don't imagine there's a lot that could keep a time traveling kid from altering things the way they wanted to," Ochaco argued, focusing on Shingo's touch. It was the only thing rooting her in place, from altering a past event she shouldn't alter.

Shingo closed his eyes, activating his Quirk. His body tingled all over, like tiny pin pricks as he shifted them into another pocket of time. He knew that trying to keep Ochaco in one place for long while Tomura Shigaraki was up to something was like asking a severely dehydrated person from drinking a glass of water placed before them.

He sighed, releasing her shoulder. "Tomura killed my father," he said simply. "When I got older and found out what actually happened, that he didn't abandon, I honed my Quirk so I could go back to certain places in time. What stopped me from changing anything…well, you're responsible for that."

Ochaco's eyes widen as she spun to face him. They had made their way back to the present time outside of the elementary school. Her phone buzzed uncontrollably in her pocket, likely a sign that Katsuki was trying desperately to reach her.

"I eventually reached out to you, asked for your help. Unfortunately, I dragged you into a fight you couldn't win, so I made your memory of me hazy, made you forget you ever really met me," Shingo stated, shaking his head. He was aware of the buzzing coming from Ochaco's phone as his cobalt eyes settled on the pocket her phones resided in. "My involvement in your life nearly destroyed the happiness you had with Katsuki Bakugou."

"These are things involving the you that's standing before me now and my future self," Ochaco said softly. "What if the me that's standing here now can actually help you, Shingo? You don't have to face things alone."

Shingo offered her a small smile, his eyes laced with a sadness that made her heart wretch against her chest. "I wish that were true, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I wound up destroying the world of the hero I've looked up to since I was a kid, Uravity. You were the sole reason I didn't become a villain, why I held onto some kind of hope." He laughed, the sounds gargled by the tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Hikari wanted to grow up to become a hero, you know… I imagine she would have been a kind and gentle hero, just like you." He wiped at his eyes, facing away from Ochaco. "I thought I could solve getting you involved by going back to see my younger self. I thought maybe if I made myself forget about having you as a hero, that I would never have reached out to you. Turns out, going back is what caused this whole mess."

"What do you mean?"

"The Quirk I got from my mother doesn't work on me. I tried to use it on myself, but nothing happened. And like an idiot I told myself about you, thinking 'hey, I'll just forget anyway' but you see how well that turned out."

"Is that why your younger self went from simply admiring me as a hero to actually coming to U.A. to see me?"

"Now you're understanding," Shingo said, nodding his head. "If I had never gone back in time to see myself, you and Katsuki would never have to deal with these time skips. I would have just gone through life, but I…"

"I _will_ save you, Shingo."

The words rippled around them both, hovering in the air like a thick cloud. Shingo wanted desperately to cling to the belief that he was still within reach of saving.

"Uravity, that's not poss—"

"My future self may have not been successful, but that doesn't mean _I _won't be. The past can't be changed, Shingo and there's a lot riding on how the future may change, but I'm not going to turn my back on someone that has reached out to me for help. Do you think I can go through life as a strong hero knowing I walked away from someone in need?" Ochaco raised the letter, still gripped firmly in her hand as she smoothed it out, clearing her throat.

'_Dear Miss Uravity,_

_I chose Uravity as my hero, because of what kind of person she is. I want to be strong like her someday so that maybe I can be the kind of hero my sister Hikari wanted to be. I want to be someone that can make others feel safe, to be someone that is kind and caring to anyone they meet. I want to be like Uravity. Her kindness is unmatched and she's the best hero I've ever seen that I look up to. I want to be strong like her and Hikari._

_Sincerely, Shingo Einosuke'_

As the last of the words fell from Ochaco's lips, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing from her own eyes. The letter had touched her, despite its simplicity and she knew with every fiber of her being that she had an important job to do, one that couldn't be done alone.

"Uravity, I'm placing my trust in you," Shingo said, wiping his eyes and sniffling. "I don't know if the outcome will change, whether the future will remain the same or change, but…I trust you, okay?"

Ochaco's mouth opened to respond, but when she looked up, she saw that Shingo had disappeared entirely and she was left standing in front of the school, alone. Now wasn't the time to cry. She pulled out her phone, not bothering to read through the missed calls and texts from Katsuki and pulled up his number and hit call.

"_Ochaco, where the hell are you?"_

He picked up on the first ring, much to be expected.

"Katsuki, just listen," she said, hushing him. "I know how to save Shingo."


End file.
